Quote of the day

"There's no worse sin as an artist than hiding behind cliches and abstraction. If you have something to say, it should be able to be understood by everyone. So I wanted to make sure this album had a real centre."

Kele Okereke of Bloc Party talks to the Observer's Craig McLean about their forthcoming second album A Weekend In The City, due out at the beginning of next month.

Okereke comes across as intelligent and articulate, but also as nervous, confused and paranoid. There's the familiar lack of levity; everything said seems earnest and considered. McLean suggests that he may be "beginning to grasp that he has made a brilliant album - and to worry about what that will mean in terms of personal exposure", alluding to the more personal nature of the lyrical material.

McLean's implication that A Weekend In The City is Okereke's work alone is rather disconcerting - he is part of a band, after all - and it's also a bit concerning that he is happy being interviewed in isolation from the others. Whatever, the fruit of their joint labours is high up on my shopping list for 2007.