Today, Bloc Party have shared their long-awaited sixth studio album Alpha Games via Infectious / BMG. Featuring the singles ‘Traps’, ‘The Girls Are Fighting’, ‘Sex Magik’ and ‘If We Get Caught’, Alpha Games is the first record the four-piece have made with their current line-up, and their first studio album since 2016’s Hymns.

To listen to Alpha Games is to go on a journey. From the sharp, visceral boldness of album opener ‘Day Drinker’ to the sleazy, glam rock feel of ‘The Girls Are Fighting’ to the bitter-tinged, melancholy album closer ‘The Peace Offering’, it’s hard not to feel as though you are being invited into a web of unsavoury characters, regretful moments, dark and sinister feelings and actions.

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Arriving on the heels of an intimate, one-off live show at The Garage, London and a headline performance at 6Music Festival earlier this month, Alpha Games was a few years in the making.

The first seeds were sown during Bloc Party’s string of Silent Alarm shows back in 2018 and 2019. Bloc Party singer, songwriter and guitarist Kele Okereke says: “When we did the Silent Alarm tour I had to listen to that record from start to finish. I haven’t really done that since it was made. I think that kind of energy we felt when we were performing those songs went some way into informing where we went next… That process definitely informed the music on some level.”

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“These last few years have felt like a morally bankrupt time. It really felt like we were in an episode of House of Cards. That definitely bled into what I wanted to say. I feel like in all of the songs on this record there are people in extreme situations, making extreme choices; that’s what I wanted to capture. But what happens to our humanity when we prioritise success at all costs?”

Alpha Games is available on CD, vinyl and cassette, as well as various limited edition coloured vinyl, including indies and high street exclusive red vinyl, and an official store exclusive black/red transparent vinyl. Bloc Party have also launched a competition to win two tickets to any headline show and a limited 7” vinyl with ‘Traps’ and ‘Callum Is a Snake’, plus a print designed and signed by the band.