"Octopus" is a song by the British indie rock band

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English Rock music, rock band that was formed in London, England, London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, sampler) and Russell Lissack (lead guitar). Their first four albums all featur ...

, released as the lead single from the band's fourth album '' Four'' on 11 July 2012.

Background

"Octopus" was released as the band's first single since " One More Chance", a standalone single released 3 years before in 2009. "Octopus" was also notable as being the band's first single to be released on

Frenchkiss Records Frenchkiss Records is an independent record label based in New York City. The label was started in 1999 by Syd Butler, bassist and founder of Les Savy Fav. The label's first purpose was to release Les Savy Fav's second album ''The Cat and The Cob ...

Reception

"Octopus" was well received by critics upon its release. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' stated that the track "takes the band back to the earliest days of ''

Silent Alarm ''Silent Alarm'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Bloc Party. Recorded in Copenhagen and London in mid-2004 with Paul Epworth as producer, it was released on 2 February 2005, by Wichita Recordings. The album peaked at number three ...

''" and called the track "pure rock 'n' roll". ''

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

'' also noted the band returning to their indie roots, as well as comparing the track's "strong guitar hook and catchy lyrics" to the band's sound on their debut ''Silent Alarm''. ''Counteract Magazine'' wrote that on the song, "Kele's vocals feel freer and less dominating, giving the whole band a chance to loosen up." They also called "Octopus" an "interesting comeback single" and an "exciting preview of what is yet to come." ''Pretty Much Amazing'' blog summed up the song by saying that it "has more pop appeal than it initially lets on. The beguilingly simple call-and-response melody ''will'' get stuck in your head with repeat listens."

Music video

Development

The music video for "Octopus" debuted on 10 July 2012 on Bloc Party's official

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page and on their website. The music video was directed by Nova Dando, who also directed the video for " What Did I Do?" by the band's lead singer

Kele Okereke Rowland Kelechukwu "Kele" Okereke (born 13 October 1981), also known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Kele, is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the indie rock band Bloc Part ...

Synopsis

''Billboard'' summarised the music video for "Octopus" as "Bloc Party playing the track in an old warehouse while women dance in black leotards, spinning hula hoops and ribbons of primary colors ..Bright colors flash across the screen, working with both the primary color theme and the beat of the music." They called the video "a fitting complement for the song's simple, driven indie sound."

Live

The song frequently appears in the band's set, and was played extensively on the 2016

Hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

tour. In the live version, they often add the first verse of "I've been Tired" by

Pixies Pixies may refer to: * Plural of Pixie * Pixies (band) The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim ...

Track listing

Digital download # Octopus – 3:05 7" single #Octopus #Straight Thru Cru Digital EP #Octopus #Straight Thru Cru #Octopus (

RAC RAC or Rac may refer to: Organizations * Radio Amateurs of Canada * RATCH-Australia Corporation, electricity generator * Refugee Action Collective (Victoria), Melbourne, Australia * Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, US * Rent-A-Cent ...

Remix) #Octopus (Koreless Remix) Four More EP (free CD with

Musikexpress The ''Musikexpress'' is a monthly German magazine that mainly writes about the rock and pop music. In addition to detailed interviews and articles about important rock, electro, hip-hop, pop, and independent musicians, the magazine offers review ...

magazine) #Octopus #Straight Thru Cru #Lean #Octopus (Them Jeans Mix)

Personnel

The people involved in the making of "Octopus" are the following: ;Bloc Party *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Russell Lissack Russell Lissack is an English musician. He is the lead guitarist of London-based indie rock group Bloc Party, whom he founded with Kele Okereke in 1999. He released a self-titled album with side project Pin Me Down in 2010, and was a touring memb ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

Gordon Moakes Gordon Peter Moakes (born 22 June 1976) is an English musician, best known as the bassist of rock band Young Legionnaire and former member of indie rock band Bloc Party. Bloc Party Moakes became a member of Bloc Party after responding to an ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

Matt Tong Matthew Chee Hung Tong (born 29 April 1979) is a British musician from Bournemouth, England. He is best known as the drummer of Bloc Party from 2002 to 2013 and has been a member of Algiers since 2015. Early life Tong was born in Bournemouth, ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

;Technical Personnel *Alex Newport – producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, mixing *Atsuo Matsumoto –

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduc ...

dditional*Ray Janos – mastering *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering *Alex Prieto – mixing ssistant*

–

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

References

External links

"Octopus" music video
– YouTube {{Authority control 2012 singles Bloc Party songs 2012 songs Songs written by Kele Okereke Frenchkiss Records singles Songs written by Gordon Moakes Songs written by Russell Lissack Songs written by Matt Tong