A Weekend in the City

A Weekend in the City is the second studio album by British indie rock band Bloc Party. It was recorded at Grouse Lodge Studios in Westmeath, Ireland, in mid-2006 and was produced by Jacknife Lee. The record was refined and mixed at several locations in London at the end of 2006. It was released on 24 January 2007 in Japan and in the first week of February in the rest of the world, with Wichita Recordings as the primary label. The record peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and on the Irish Albums Chart. In the United States, it entered the Billboard 200 at number 12.
Bloc Party's goal was to craft an album that distanced them from the conventional guitar band set-up by incorporating more electronically processed beats and additional instrumentation. Computer programs were extensively used to enrich and amend recorded takes, while a string sextet was hired to perform on some of the tracks. Frontman and chief lyricist Kele Okereke created A Weekend in the City as an examination of life and leisure in modern cities by drawing ideas from issues such as drug abuse, sexuality, and terrorism. The album's three original singles, "The Prayer", "I Still Remember", and "Hunting for Witches", exemplify these themes respectively.
Bloc Party's new musical directions and more forthright lyrics either impressed or alienated critics. Reviewers generally treated A Weekend in the City as an important stepping stone for the band members in their quest for musical maturity, while The Guardian included it in its list of the "1000 Albums To Hear Before You Die". In November 2007, the record was re-released globally-with the final single, "Flux", as a bonus track-to coincide with Bloc Party's extensive touring schedule.