Rebuilt Bloc Party to rise at the Fillmore

By summer 2015, Bloc Party was down half its members. The London band had just wrapped touring off their fourth album, the aptly titled Four, and drummer Matt Tong and bassist Gordon Moakes had departed to pursue other musical endeavors. Many wondered what the future would be for the band at the forefront of the UK indie-rock revolution.

"The only time when I thought we weren't going to make music was actually when we started touring Four, and the vibe wasn't so nice," front man Kele Okereke said. "That was the only time I thought I should do something else with my life."

Ten years before, Bloc Party - who are set to play Wednesday at the Fillmore - had just released their debut album, Silent Alarm. It's a record that wraps the listener in walls of intricate guitar work - textural pairings orchestrated by Okereke and lead guitarist Russell Lissack. The two exchange striking chords and electric riffs, a dynamic that's balanced by the rhythm section of Tong and Moakes.

Each band member's talents were equally displayed, constantly morphing and experimenting on subsequent albums A Weekend in the City, released in 2007, and the following year's Intimacy, which was heavily grounded in electronics.

Four, released in 2012 after a four-year hiatus, felt a bit like a return to form, with more emphasis on the guitars. Okereke's songwriting was more straightforward, and the band seemed locked into the eclectically jittery sound of albums' past, this time with more grunge.

But the band members had grown distant, and the band fell apart. Despite the turbulence, Okereke saw no point in stopping altogether. He and Lissack decided to craft an album around a title for the first time, rather than the other way around.

Hymns, released in January, is an ode to the blank slate Okereke and Lissack found themselves with - a new start, grounded by the connotation of the title.

"We knew we wanted the music to have a sense of reverence, which I don't think any of our other records ever really had," Okereke said. "Having the title meant we were forced to think differently about how it was we composed music together. It was fun exploring new textures and new territories."

With the addition of Justin Harris on bass, keys, and saxophone and Louise Bartle on drums, Okereke and Lissack were able to take features of previous releases and up the ante, playing with guitar tones that sounded more like synth lines, and referencing their own body of work in Okereke's lyrics. "Lord, give me grace and dancing feet," begins the lead single, "The Love Within." It's a playful nod to A Weekend in the City cut "The Prayer," which begins with the same line.

Riding on this renewed sense of purpose, Bloc Party 2.0 is writing for the first time as a unit, as opposed to Okereke and Lissack's two-man process on Hymns. Members spent some time in the studio before heading to the States and are beginning to determine their future.

"It's interesting. I think we're technically a new band," Okereke said. "We're still learning how to write together and how to be a band together."

Bloc Party, with MS MR

8 p.m. Wednesday at the Fillmore, 29 E. Allen St.

Tickets: $29.

Information: 215-309-0150 or www.thefillmorephilly.com.