The Hunter (Kele EP)
Encyclopedia
The Hunter is the first EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 (and follow up to the 2010 solo album The Boxer
The Boxer (Kele album)
The Boxer is the debut solo album by Kele Okereke, the lead singer of British indie rock band Bloc Party. Okereke released the album under the professional name of Kele on 21 June 2010. As promotion, he uploaded the songs "Rise" and "Walk Tall" to his personal website on 13 May...

) by Kele Okereke
Kele Okereke
Kelechukwu "Kele" Rowland Okereke is a British musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the indie rock band Bloc Party.-Early life:...

 (under the professional name Kele), lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 rock band Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...

. It was released on November 7, 2011 by Wichita Recordings
Wichita Recordings
Wichita Recordings is an independent record label located in London, founded in 2000 by Mark Bowen and Dick Green. Its most notable signees are Bloc Party, The Cribs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Her Space Holiday, Los Campesinos! and Peter Bjorn and John...

 in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, set back a week from the original release date, and 3 days earlier on November 4, 2011 by Wichita Recordings
Wichita Recordings
Wichita Recordings is an independent record label located in London, founded in 2000 by Mark Bowen and Dick Green. Its most notable signees are Bloc Party, The Cribs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Her Space Holiday, Los Campesinos! and Peter Bjorn and John...

 and Liberator Music
Liberation Music
Liberation Music is a boutique, independent Australasian record company, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process...

 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The first single released from the EP was "What Did I Do?
What Did I Do?
"What Did I Do?" is a song by Kele Okereke, released as the first single from his EP The Hunter. The song's music video was released on September 13, 2011, with the song being released as a digital single in Japan 10 days later. The song features vocals from singer Lucy Taylor...

", which features guest vocals from Lucy Taylor
Lucy Taylor (singer)
Lucy Katharine Taylor , is a classically trained singer who attended both the Salisbury Cathedral Girls Choir, and the Winchester Cathedral Girls Choir, where she was head chorister in her final year ....

. The music video was released on September 13, 2011, with the song released as a digital single in Japan 10 days later.

Upon it's release, the EP was generally critically ignored and overlooked, due to it's release being overshadowed by false rumors that Kele's band, Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...

, had fired him. This also caused the EP to perform poorly on the charts, only charting in one country.

Background

The EP was announced about 2 weeks after Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...

 met up in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 to begin the writing process for their fourth studio album.

The EP's first single was "What Did I Do?
What Did I Do?
"What Did I Do?" is a song by Kele Okereke, released as the first single from his EP The Hunter. The song's music video was released on September 13, 2011, with the song being released as a digital single in Japan 10 days later. The song features vocals from singer Lucy Taylor...

", which features vocals from singer Lucy Taylor
Lucy Taylor (singer)
Lucy Katharine Taylor , is a classically trained singer who attended both the Salisbury Cathedral Girls Choir, and the Winchester Cathedral Girls Choir, where she was head chorister in her final year ....

. The music video was released on 13 September 2011, with the song released as a digital single in Japan 10 days later. A remix of the single by All The Lights was released as a single by Liberator Music
Liberation Music
Liberation Music is a boutique, independent Australasian record company, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process...

 to the Australian iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...

 on November 16, 2011.

The EP featured production from XXXChange
Xxxchange
Alex Brady Epton, better known as XXXChange, is a Brooklyn-based musician, record producer, remixer and DJ. He is mostly known for his work with the musical group Spank Rock, whose debut album YoYoYoYoYo he produced.-2006:*Spank Rock - "YoYoYoYoYo"...

 (who was responsible for the production on Kele's first solo release, The Boxer
The Boxer (Kele album)
The Boxer is the debut solo album by Kele Okereke, the lead singer of British indie rock band Bloc Party. Okereke released the album under the professional name of Kele on 21 June 2010. As promotion, he uploaded the songs "Rise" and "Walk Tall" to his personal website on 13 May...

), RAC, Fred Falke
Fred Falke
Frédérick "Fred" Falke is a French based house producer and DJ of German origin.Falke started out as a bass player around 1995 before turning his hand to production work in the late 1990s...

 and QNESS, with Sub Focus
Sub Focus
Nick Douwma, better known by his stage name Sub Focus, is an English Electronic Music record producer. He has been releasing records since 2003. On 12 October 2009, he released his self-titled debut album.-Chart success:...

 also mixing the lead single. The EP also sees Kele doing production work for the first time, producing the track "Cable's Goodbye".

It contains six original songs, as well as a cover of Q Lazzarus
Q Lazzarus
Q Lazzarus is a female American singer, best known as a one hit wonder for the 1988 song "Goodbye Horses", which was featured in Married to the Mob, The Silence of the Lambs , Clerks II, Lakai Footwear's Fully Flared, Rockstar's videogame Grand Theft Auto IV, EA's videogame Skate 3, and TV shows...

' song "Goodbye Horses". Speaking to This Is Fake DIY
This Is Fake DIY
This Is Fake DIY is a United Kingdom-based music webzine dedicated to alternative music. It is named after a song by the Scottish alternative rock group Bis....

, Kele said, about the cover of "Goodbye Horses":

Musical style

The musical style of the EP differs from Kele's first solo effort, The Boxer
The Boxer (Kele album)
The Boxer is the debut solo album by Kele Okereke, the lead singer of British indie rock band Bloc Party. Okereke released the album under the professional name of Kele on 21 June 2010. As promotion, he uploaded the songs "Rise" and "Walk Tall" to his personal website on 13 May...

, in that it explores into adding dubstep
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....

 basslines, synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...

 elements and dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...

 tones to songs, while still keeping some of the experimental elements of The Boxer
The Boxer (Kele album)
The Boxer is the debut solo album by Kele Okereke, the lead singer of British indie rock band Bloc Party. Okereke released the album under the professional name of Kele on 21 June 2010. As promotion, he uploaded the songs "Rise" and "Walk Tall" to his personal website on 13 May...

s production.

Commercial

Commercially, the EP performed poorly, only charting in Australia, reaching a dismal peak of 79 on the Australian Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

, and a peak of number 27 on the Australian Digital Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

.

The lead single, "What Did I Do?
What Did I Do?
"What Did I Do?" is a song by Kele Okereke, released as the first single from his EP The Hunter. The song's music video was released on September 13, 2011, with the song being released as a digital single in Japan 10 days later. The song features vocals from singer Lucy Taylor...

", also only managed to chart in Australia, reaching a peak of 82 on the ARIA Digital Track Chart
ARIA Digital Track Chart
The ARIA Digital Track chart ranks the highest selling legally downloaded music tracks within Australia and is provided by the Australian Recording Industry Association.-History:...

 and 18 on the Australian Dance Chart
ARIA Digital Track Chart
The ARIA Digital Track chart ranks the highest selling legally downloaded music tracks within Australia and is provided by the Australian Recording Industry Association.-History:...

.

Critical

Despite the EP's lead single "What Did I Do?
What Did I Do?
"What Did I Do?" is a song by Kele Okereke, released as the first single from his EP The Hunter. The song's music video was released on September 13, 2011, with the song being released as a digital single in Japan 10 days later. The song features vocals from singer Lucy Taylor...

" being publicised by many major magazines online, critically, The Hunter was overlooked by reviewers, mainly because it's release was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding a false rumor that Kele's band Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...

 had fired him and were auditioning for new singers. These rumors were indirectly denied by the band, with it confirmed by some photos of Kele working with the other Bloc Party band members on his blog. Due to this, the EP did not have many reviews by big publications, which can slightly be attributed to its poor commercial performance.

Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...

 were rather critical of the album, stating that the track "'Release Me' is irredeemably poor, a beige-by-numbers of bland synth stabs and trite lyrics that somehow manages to be both incredibly dull and, like the EP’s cover, unintentionally hilarious". However, they did praise the song "Love as a Weapon", calling it "the clear standout" of the EP, noting that it "builds from glitches and light percussion into a mesh of samples and piano arpeggios and hummed melodies lifted straight from 'The Prayer
The Prayer (Bloc Party song)
"The Prayer" is the first single from Bloc Party's second album A Weekend in the City, except in the U.S. where it is the second single as "I Still Remember" was the first song to be released in North America. It was released by Wichita Recordings on 29 January 2007 and is the band's highest...

'". This Is Fake DIY
This Is Fake DIY
This Is Fake DIY is a United Kingdom-based music webzine dedicated to alternative music. It is named after a song by the Scottish alternative rock group Bis....

 gave the EP a 7/10, though they did criticise Kele's miserable lyrics, stating that The Hunter "sees Kele complete his journey from indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 miserabalist to dubstep
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....

, floorfilling… miserabilist", with them also criticising the EP's title, saying that "after the release of The Boxer
The Boxer (Kele album)
The Boxer is the debut solo album by Kele Okereke, the lead singer of British indie rock band Bloc Party. Okereke released the album under the professional name of Kele on 21 June 2010. As promotion, he uploaded the songs "Rise" and "Walk Tall" to his personal website on 13 May...

, Kele continues his attempt to lay claim to all traditionally masculine roles with The Hunter", also joking that "contenders for his next album title include The Brickie or The Mechanic". They did however praise the EP in other areas, stating that "for the most part, this is an EP of arms aloft, triumphant club bangers - of someone comfortable with their voice and with their sound". The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

 commented that main producer XXXChange
Xxxchange
Alex Brady Epton, better known as XXXChange, is a Brooklyn-based musician, record producer, remixer and DJ. He is mostly known for his work with the musical group Spank Rock, whose debut album YoYoYoYoYo he produced.-2006:*Spank Rock - "YoYoYoYoYo"...

 "brings a bracing electro sensibility to proceedings". They also recommended the songs "Release Me", "Devotion" and "Cable's Goodbye".

Track listing

Musical personnel

  • Kele Okereke
    Kele Okereke
    Kelechukwu "Kele" Rowland Okereke is a British musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the indie rock band Bloc Party.-Early life:...

     - lead vocals (tracks 2-7), backing vocals (track 1), production
    Record producer
    A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

     (track 5), songwriting (all tracks except 4)

Production and mixing
  • XXXChange
    Xxxchange
    Alex Brady Epton, better known as XXXChange, is a Brooklyn-based musician, record producer, remixer and DJ. He is mostly known for his work with the musical group Spank Rock, whose debut album YoYoYoYoYo he produced.-2006:*Spank Rock - "YoYoYoYoYo"...

     - production (tracks 1, 3, 6 and 7), mixing (tracks 3, 6 and 7)
  • Sub Focus
    Sub Focus
    Nick Douwma, better known by his stage name Sub Focus, is an English Electronic Music record producer. He has been releasing records since 2003. On 12 October 2009, he released his self-titled debut album.-Chart success:...

     - mixing (track 1)
  • RAC - production (track 2)
  • QNESS - additional production and mixing (track 2)
  • Daniel Lindegren - production (track 4)
  • Fred Falke
    Fred Falke
    Frédérick "Fred" Falke is a French based house producer and DJ of German origin.Falke started out as a bass player around 1995 before turning his hand to production work in the late 1990s...

     - additional production and mixing (track 4)
  • Ben Jackson - mixing (track 5), recording (all tracks)
  • Scott McCormick - recording (all tracks)
  • Guy Davie - mastering (at Electric Mastering)

Additional musicians
  • Lucy Taylor
    Lucy Taylor (singer)
    Lucy Katharine Taylor , is a classically trained singer who attended both the Salisbury Cathedral Girls Choir, and the Winchester Cathedral Girls Choir, where she was head chorister in her final year ....

     - lead vocals (track 1), backing vocals (tracks 4 and 5), flute
    Flute
    The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

     (track 5)
  • William Garvey - songwriting (track 4)
  • Dan Smith - slide guitar
    Slide guitar
    Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...

     (track 6)
  • Jack Tarrant - additional guitar (track 6)
  • Jodie Scantlebury - backing vocals (track 7)
  • Bobbie Gordon - backing vocals (track 7)

Publishing
  • Wichita Recordings
    Wichita Recordings
    Wichita Recordings is an independent record label located in London, founded in 2000 by Mark Bowen and Dick Green. Its most notable signees are Bloc Party, The Cribs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Her Space Holiday, Los Campesinos! and Peter Bjorn and John...

     - publishing
  • Liberator Music
    Liberation Music
    Liberation Music is a boutique, independent Australasian record company, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process...

     - publishing (in Australia, with Wichita Recordings
    Wichita Recordings
    Wichita Recordings is an independent record label located in London, founded in 2000 by Mark Bowen and Dick Green. Its most notable signees are Bloc Party, The Cribs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Her Space Holiday, Los Campesinos! and Peter Bjorn and John...

    )
  • PIAS Entertainment Group
    PIAS Entertainment Group
    PIAS is an international licensing, distribution, sales and marketing company for premium music, film and comedy.Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, the group also has significant operations in the UK, France, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and Ireland....

     - manufacturing and distribution
  • EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    /Kobalt Music - song publishing (all tracks except 4)
  • Sony/ATV - song publishing (track 4)

Release history

Region Release date Format Label
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

4 November 2011 CD, digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

Wichita
Wichita Recordings
Wichita Recordings is an independent record label located in London, founded in 2000 by Mark Bowen and Dick Green. Its most notable signees are Bloc Party, The Cribs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Her Space Holiday, Los Campesinos! and Peter Bjorn and John...

, Liberator
Liberation Music
Liberation Music is a boutique, independent Australasian record company, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process...

UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

7 November 2011 CD, digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

, vinyl
Wichita
Wichita Recordings
Wichita Recordings is an independent record label located in London, founded in 2000 by Mark Bowen and Dick Green. Its most notable signees are Bloc Party, The Cribs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Her Space Holiday, Los Campesinos! and Peter Bjorn and John...

US 8 November 2011 Digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...


Album

Chart (2011) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

79
Australian Digital Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

27

Singles

Song Peak
AUS
ARIA Digital Track Chart
The ARIA Digital Track chart ranks the highest selling legally downloaded music tracks within Australia and is provided by the Australian Recording Industry Association.-History:...


AUS Dance
ARIA Digital Track Chart
The ARIA Digital Track chart ranks the highest selling legally downloaded music tracks within Australia and is provided by the Australian Recording Industry Association.-History:...

"What Did I Do?
What Did I Do?
"What Did I Do?" is a song by Kele Okereke, released as the first single from his EP The Hunter. The song's music video was released on September 13, 2011, with the song being released as a digital single in Japan 10 days later. The song features vocals from singer Lucy Taylor...

"
82 18


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK