The general of anti-folk is back in the trenches, and he’s firing a warning shot that reverberates right through your soul. BLOCK, the goddamn architect of a genre, has returned with “I Thought I Won The War,” and it’s nothing short of a golden trophy in battle-scarred songwriting.
BLOCK is a solo force of nature. From his cult-hit records that defined the anti-folk movement to the historic 2025 deluxe reissue series that rightly put his name back in the mouths of a new generation, BLOCK has always operated on his own terms. And this new track, the first single from his forthcoming album Love Crash, is him standing atop the hill he just conquered, looking out at the next battlefield.
So what’s the fight about? Forget political strife or social commentary. This war is personal, intimate, and brutally familiar. BLOCK himself lays it out with savage clarity: he was watching World War I documentaries and realized he was in a romantic relationship he had “no business being in.” The metaphor is perfect—a feeling of being trapped, escape routes cut off, surrounded by enemy forces. The war was on, and this song is the sound of him crawling out of the foxhole, battered but breathing. It’s about that moment you realize the victory you celebrated was just the calm before the next, more devastating storm.
This single is the first rung on a ladder out of a dark place, as BLOCK describes the entire Love Crash album. It’s a rich vein of heartbreak, mined with the expertise of a veteran who knows exactly where to strike for the most profound impact. With a major label push from Meridian, a catalogue reissue series that has garnered nearly half-a-million streams, and a buzzworthy NYC residency, the stage is set for BLOCK to claim his throne. “I Thought I Won The War” is the explosive, incisive, and vulnerable opening salvo. The war for your speakers starts November 12th. Surrender immediately.