Bloc Party have confirmed that they will be recording without singer Kele Okereke and will be auditioning new vocalists.

Last week, Okereke revealed to NME that he had spotted guitarist Russell Lissack, bassist Gordon Moakes and drummer Matt Tong outside a rehearsal studio in New York and not only was he not invited to take part in the sessions, he was unaware they were happening at all.

Speaking to NME in an interview which you can read in the new issue of NME, which is on UK newsstands tomorrow (September 28) or available digitally, Russell Lissack confirmed that the band were making music again and would be looking for a new singer.


He said:

It’s not really a secret because Kele’s been pretty busy doing solo stuff and it looks like he’s going to be doing that a bit longer. The other three of us wanted to meet up and make music. We were talking about just doing an instrumental thing, but now we might get a singer as well, to properly put some music out and play some shows.

Lissack denied that there was bad blood between the band and Okereke, but confirmed they hadn’t spoken for a couple of months.

He added: “I haven’t spoken to Kele for a couple of months, I guess since the festivals when I was doing stuff with Ash. But there’s no bad vibes.”

To read the full interview with Russell Lissack, pick up the new issue of NME, which is on UK newsstands tomorrow (September 28) or available digitally.