Hymns
Bloc Party
(BMG/Infectious)
Two and a half stars
Repurposing your own old lyrics is a curious opening gambit for a group making a comeback, but that's exactly how Bloc Party greet us on The Love Within, the opening track of their fifth album.
"Lord, give me grace and dancing feet", originally put to more locomotive use in their 2007 single The Prayer, is a doubly strange reintroduction to a band who have overhauled their personnel in the four years since their previous album.
Only frontman Kele Okereke and innovative lead guitarist Russell Lissack remain, with an entirely new rhythm section installed. If anybody was in any doubt as to whose baby this is, Okereke confirmed suspicions when he recently said: “I love what I do, so they had to go.”
Musically, it's fair to say that Bloc Party have increasingly fallen under increasingly similar influences to Okereke's dance-music-led solo exploits. They certainly aren't the same indie-rockers who broke out 11 years ago with their wired, wiry debut album, Silent Alarm.
Then, they were wide-eyed 20-somethings, alive to the possibilities of life – now, in their mid-30s, there’s a maturity to their sound, yet a very real danger of dimming that vital spark.
The Love Within demonstrates that metamorphosis, overflowing as it is with synths that accompany Okereke's trademark articulation of longing and uncertainty. If anything, he's become more neurotic with age, with a pithy outlook on life.
It feels, however, like the departure of Bloc Party's founding drummer, Matt Tong, could be a turning point for the worse. Without the propulsive driving force behind their agitated, rarely generic sound, the drum tracks on Hymns sound somewhat weedy and uninspired.
Only He Can Heal Me is an early victim, with the band's talent for layering backing vocals as a percussive instrument failing to save a flimsy, mid-tempo backdrop.
The big, bombastic guitars of old have had their wings clipped, notably on Virtue, where a distinctly New Order-esque bassline winds around a dose of mild self-loathing from Okereke.
The singer has been accused of writing trite lyrics in his time – but he surpasses himself on the somewhat pedestrian The Good News, with the naff, banal couplet: "Every day is a repeat/ Like a carrier bag stuck in a tree."
Fortress seems to take an earful of beats-based advice from fellow British envelope-pusher FKA Twigs, with Okereke switching to choirboy tones, while Different Drugs taps into an intriguingly paranoid vein. In both cases, however, there's little of the velocity that made Bloc Party one of the defining indie-rock outfits of the past decade.
If these are indeed Hymns, then Bloc Party disciples might want to start looking for new leaders to follow, at least until this new line-up solidifies. Because right now, they're sounding like a band driven by a messiah complex, in need of a new sermon to follow.
aworkman@thenational.ae
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?
If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.
