“Octopus” by Bloc Party

"Octopus" was Bloc Party's way of announcing they were back: the lead single from their fourth album, Four, out on 11 July 2012, and the band's first single of any kind since the standalone "One More Chance" in 2009. It was also their first release for Frenchkiss Records. Alex Newport produced, engineered and mixed it, and he keeps it lean: Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack on guitars, Gordon Moakes on bass and Matt Tong on drums, the rhythm section chipping in backing vocals, and Okereke sounding looser and less front-and-center than he had in years.

Reviewers heard it too. Billboard called it a return to the Silent Alarm days, Metro picked up on the indie roots and the strong guitar hook, and one critic reckoned it had more pop in it than it first let on. For a band that had been away, it was an urgent, wiry hello.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.