Kele Okereke sheds light on Bloc Party's new lineup and album

Bloc Party were recently confirmed as headliners at Falls Festival and Southbound festival, and lead singer Okereke spoke to hosts Veronica and Lewis about the fifth LP: "...it's sounding awesome, if I do say so myself, but right now we're kind of in the middle of it... [still] beavering away at it. It's been quite an extensive process but it's starting to take shape [and] that's what's exciting for me... [it] feels like a culmination of what we've been working on with our past four records... some of the most gentle music we've ever made, maybe some of the most abrasive music we've made. Personally I'm really amazed with the sonic landscape so far and I think what Russell [Lissack, lead guitar] is doing with his guitar is like nothing I've ever heard before; I'm excited to just get in front of people and play them the songs."

Back in March Okereke shared a snippet of new track "Exes" on the station.

Okereke also said that the band, newly reduced after the departures of bassist Gordon Moakes and drummer Matt Tong, have edited down their ideas to 15 songs, but that "we know that we don't want a long record, so I think over the next few weeks we're going to have to start narrowing stuff down."

Of the new lineup, he said: "I do know what the make-up of the band is going to be but I don't think I'm allowed to talk about it just yet because I think things are still being finalised. We are a band. We're better than we ever have been so I'm excited to showcase that."

The new album will follow 2012's Four, and will mark the first release without founding rhythm section Tong and Moakes.

Have a listen to the full chat below.