Mercury On The Bloc

With the release of Klaxons' 2nd album imminent (yet unbeknownst to most; I am merely speculating at a quick, quiet release as it would seem to follow the style of all their recent and relevant information so far - INCREDIBLY low-key), and my iPod unremitting in its playing out of every Red Hot Chili Peppers song I have, to death, the appearance of Bloc Party's first single could not have come at a better time. And on first assumptions, Mercury sounds as if it has a replayability factor just long enough to bridge the gap where I have grown tired of the Chilis, and am completely obsessed with listening to Klaxons' new material as soon as I can.

If this is to be a glimpse into the 3rd world of Bloc Party, then it is but a strange world indeed. Not in a bad sense, no no, not at all; but the "carry on from Flux" attitude portrayed in this song, along with the background mood created by the use of instruments that are neither symbolic nor characteristic of Bloc Party's traditional sound shows fearlessness and growth on the band's part. Everyone knows that by the time of your 3rd album, you will need to be keeping the material fresh and exciting, as opposed to sticking to a winning formula. Thinking like the latter will only get you so far; your most fervent fans would seriously be thinking about jumping ship to a rival band by that stage.

But if you think about, it has been a controlled step into the unknown. Flux was simply a test to see how the market would react to a completely new sound. And on the whole, a positive reception was noticed. Sensibility is something I've come to expect of Bloc Party, and they have not disappointed me so far. I seem to remember that Radiohead's Kid A album lacked even a (and please do excuse the pun) SINGLE single. That's because the inkling was there; that album could have destroyed the career of Thom Yorke with its emphasis on the electronic. In the end, it was hugely successful in America, but was not universally regarded as a work of genius. Low and behold, here they are 8 years later, and following the success of In Rainbows, they are arguably more popular than ever.

To Bloc Party, I say kudos on taking the risk, and ending the doubt that this album will be a lousy spinoff of combined elements from their previous two albums (Silent Alarm and A Weekend In The City). If the rest of the album draws from similar influences, which we hear in Mercury, don't be surprised to see Bloc Party as UK #1 in both the singles and albums chart sometime within the next 12 months. Not that those are titles worth obtaining, of course.

I look forward to listening with glee.

A little bit extra:

You can listen to Mercury both here...
http://www.blocparty.com/
...and here...
http://www.myspace.com/blocparty