Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke has revealed that the group didn't want to copy Radiohead and give their new album away for free.

'Intimacy', the band's third album, is released today as a digital download via the bands website.

Unlike Radiohead, who allowed fans to pay what they wanted for their latest album 'In Rainbows', fans can either pay £5 for an MP3 copy, which features less tracks, or pre-order it on CD, which will be delivered at the end of October.

Speaking to Rolling Stone about the release, Okereke said that only ten people knew about it before it was announced on Monday.

“We referred to it as Plan ‘X.’ It was a bit of a giggle. I don’t think more than 10 people knew about the idea until the last few days,” he said.

“It was totally hush-hush but we didn’t want to go the whole In Rainbows route and give away for free. We live in a capitalist world and I do want to get paid and I do want to eat.”

Okereke added that 'Intimacy' contains some of his most open and honest lyrics to date.

“I went through a breakup at the end of last year and I guess that’s what the record’s about really. I couldn’t help thinking about it or talking about it or writing about it,” he said.

“I wouldn’t want anyone to think it’s the clichéd breakup record but I haven’t written about true, personal experiences all that much in the past.”

(by Jason Gregory)