Bloc Party announce new album, Alpha Games, premiere angular, hard-hitting lead single, Traps

It's been quite awhile since we last heard from Bloc Party. Though the band toured the world in 2018 and 2019 – playing their still remarkable debut album, Silent Alarm, in its entirety – you have to look all the way back to 2016 for their last album of new material, Hymns.

Now, the Londoners are back with the announcement of a new album, Alpha Games, from which they've also premiered a new single, Traps.

For fans of the group's earlier, more straightforward rock material, Traps will no doubt be a welcome listen. Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack bring their grunge influences to the fore with their riffwork, with Okereke pumping the brakes and demonstrating his falsetto on the beautiful chorus.  

For good measure, Lissack even rounds out the song – which you can check out below – with some of his patented, pitch-jumping leads.

“From the moment we wrote Traps, we knew it had to be the first thing people heard from this album, playing it in soundchecks on our last tour before it was finished and hearing how it sounded in those big rooms and outdoors," said Bloc Party singer/guitarist Kele Okereke in a press release. 

Alpha Games is set for an April 29 release via Infectious/BMG. You can check out its cover art and track list below.

To preorder Alpha Games, head on over to Bloc Party's website.

Bloc Party – Alpha Games:

1. Day Drinker
2. Traps
3. You Should Know the Truth
4. Callum Is a Snake
5. Rough Justice
6. The Girls Are Fighting
7. Of Things Yet to Come
8. Sex Magik
9. By Any Means Necessary
10. In Situ
11. If We Get Caught
12. The Peace Offering