The Cold Cut

I'm not a 'report every piece of music news' kind of guy, so I wasn't going to talk about Bloc Party's cryptic countdown (see full story) until it came to fruition, and it has. The countdown was (as suspected) for the release of new material. Or more specifically, a new single, entitled 'Mercury', to be released on 11th August.

At this point, I would struggle to describe it as anything but 'different'. And a live enigma- with a combination of blaring trombones and vocal loops, Bloc Party's original set-up will struggle with the amount of noise generated for their new songs (although 'Flux' comes off well). It's a tad repetitive at this point in time, but still continues the theme of electronic experimentation that Kele has obviously fallen in love with.

Both guitar and bass are neglected in favour of this new direction, although the heavy synth line- used as the basis of 'Flux'- pops up a few times. I'm slowly falling in love with this song, but honestly, if it wasn't Bloc Party, I really wouldn't give it the time of day. But then, maybe that was Kele's plan- find the way into our hearts with perfect pop songs, and then pull the once over in search of his true love- beats/electronica. Whether the rest of Bloc Party are so enamoured remains to be seen.

Watch the official video below, and hear the interview Kele gave before premiering the single with Zane Lowe on Radio 1. The single will be released as follows:

'Mercury' CD:
1. Mercury
2. Mercury (Hervé is in disarray Remix)
3. Mercury (CSS Remix)
4. Mercury (Flosstrodamus Remix)

Heavyweight 'Mercury' 12”:
Side A. Mercury (12” Version)
Side B. Mercury (12” Instrumental)

'Mercury' Heavyweight 7”:
Side A. Mercury
Side B. Idea For A Story

Pre-order the single from the band's website!

Bloc Party- Flux
Blackbox Remix- Positive Tension
Bloc Party- Hero
Bloc Party- 13 Version 2.0
Bloc Party- Skeleton

I think Bloc Party should take the award for most prolific band: you would be hard pressed not to like at least some of the tracks off of their last couple of albums. Since mid-2004 they've released:

1. Bloc Party EP
   
2. Little Thoughts EP
   
3. Silent Alarm
4. Silent Alarm Remixes
5. Two More Years EP (Stand-alone single)
6. The Present (Song for Help: A Day In The Life: recorded in 24 hours)
   
7. Weekend In The City
8. Weekend In The City Bonus tracks (one for all 13 different released versions)
9. Flux (out November 12th, another stand-alone single)
   

The latest announcement (number 9) from the band came during their recent live performance at Madison Square Garden (during the later stages of their US tour), where they played 'Flux' and announced that it would be released on November 12th with 'Emma Kate's Accident' and 'The Once And Future King' as b-sides. I'm going to go with my initial reaction- as different as this track is, I really love it for what it is: a simple way to inject some variety into things before the band start recording their new album. Performing live, Gordon (Moakes) replaces the usual basss line with synthesisers, and Kele's voice is fed through a vocoder to create an interesting song with a really strong dance beat to back up the telling vocals.

"We must talk about our problems
We are in a state of flux."

I've decided to break out some of the Bloc Party rarities that have been sitting around on my iPod for a while now- enjoy, and leave your comments on 'Flux'... songs at the top, follow the links to download... (Flux downloaded from Good Weather For Airstrikes)

In other news, Kele's long lost brother Paul Sackey played really well in the rugby against Australia today- what a talented family, hey?