It’s been four years since the UK’s dance-rock group Bloc Party released their last album, Intimacy. Amidst rumors of a breakup, however, they’ve announced a full-on new album. Four will arrive on August 21 via French Kiss records. Check out what front man Kele Okereke said about the new album on his blog:

there have been babies, breakdowns, tantrums and hospitalisations but its finally here. we started making this record in NY in the winter of 2011. we didn’t want to let the world know so we told a lie that got out of hand but it made us laugh in the process, which brought us closer together.

we could have come clean from the get go but to be honest we had no idea if anything was going to come out of these sessions. there was a big question mark over whether bloc party were ever going to make another record again. we were exhausted and bored and distant from one another. so in 2010 we all did our own thing, gordon had a baby, russell joined ash, matt built a studio in his basement with his bare hands and i moved to new york to finish a book that i had been writing for the last 3 years.

after my solo record i wanted to have a year without music in a different part of the world. i had four records with me, led zeppelin 4, deftones white pony, nicki minaj’s mix tape beam me up scotty and al green’s greatest hits and that was enough. i just wanted to drift and watch the world from a distance and i truly had intended to switch off but then 2011 happened; in terms of global history, the most dramatic year i have experienced in my entire life. it became impossible to switch off from the world when it seemed history was rewriting itself day after day. so i did what i always try to do to make sense of the world, i started writing lyrics and something became clear to me, i needed to put my band back together, i missed my friends. even though i had made a record by myself i missed the way that my band worked, how little improvisations and suggestions would then go on to spark other ideas in me like wildfire. being in bloc party always forced me to think on my feet.

 Tour Dates
06-19 Glasgow, Scotland – Garage
06-20 Manchester, England – The Ritz
06-21 London, England – Koko
06-24 Tokyo, Japan – Ebisu Garden Hall
06-29 Borlange, Sweden – Peace & Love Festival
07-04 Gdynia, Poland – Heineken Opener Festival
07-05 Sesimbra, Portugal – Super Bock Super Rock
07-06 Gdynia, Poland – Open’er Festival
07-08 Turku, Finland – Ruisrock Festival
07-12 Bilbao, Spain – BBK Live
07-13 Ferropolis, Germany – Melt Festival
07-20 Charrues, France – Festival Les Vieilles
07-21 Nyon, Switzerland – Paleo Fest
07-28 Byron Bay, Australia, Splendour in the Grass
07-30 Honolulu, HI – The Republik
08-03 Los Angeles, CA – Hard Festival
08-04 Chicago, IL – Lollapalooza
08-05 Montreal, Quebec – Osheaga Festival
08-07 New York, NY – Terminal 5
08-08 New York, NY – Terminal 5
08-09 New York, NY – Terminal 5
08-11 Las Vegas, NV – The Pool at the Cosmopolitan
08-12 San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands
08-16 St. Polten, Austria – Frequency
08-17 Biddinghuizen, Netherlands – Lowlands
08-18 St. Polten, Austria – Frequency
08-24 Saint-Cloud, France – Rock en Seine
08-25 Zurich, Switzerland – Open Air Festival
09-04 Mallorca, Spain – Mallorca Rocks
09-05 Ibiza, Spain – Ibiza Rocks
11-03 Nantes, France – Le Stereolux
11-04 Lyon, France – Le Transbordeur
11-05 Bordeaux, France – Le Rocher de Palmer
11-07 Toulouse, France – Le Bikini
11-08 Milan, Italy – Acatrax
11-11 Hamburg, Germany – Docks
11-12 Stuttgart, Germany – Theatrehause
11-13 Dresden, Germany – Eventwerk
11-14 Munich, Germany – Tonhalle
11-18 Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
11-19 Stockholm, Sweden – Munich Brewery
11-20 Oslo, Norway – Rockafeller