Pressure from All Sides

"Kettling" opens Four—Bloc Party’s 2012 album—doing exactly what the word implies: closing in on you. Named after the police tactic of surrounding a crowd until there’s nowhere left to go, the song carries that same coiled, airless energy from its first bar. Kele’s voice stays distant and urgent at once, the guitar pressing against walls rather than playing through them. After the lukewarm reception that followed Intimacy, Four felt like a band choosing to trust its instincts over whatever production trend it had been chasing. This song announces that decision immediately—jagged, alive, a little unhinged, and glad to be back.