Bloc Party quickly distanced itself from its 2005 breakthrough album,
Silent Alarm, bringing out the beat and synth-oriented facets of the group's arty dance-punk with its subsequent two albums. While frontman Kele Okereke's songwriting has progressed, the music has followed Radiohead into the navel of electro-experimental indulgence. Four ends several years of hiatus and repositions Bloc Party as the band rediscovers rock, producing its most consistently bristling and engaging music since its acclaimed debut.
— Chris Parker