Bloc Party - Mercury

Bloc Party will upset a lot of fans with this new single 'Mercury', but should be rewarded for sticking their neck out in such a risky manner. It is their most interesting song to date in terms of experimenting and the days of writing hits like Banquet etc, have never seemed as distant - and for the better.

'Mercury' is a dense listening experience that showcases the band's vast musical taste. Relying so heavily on progamming and digital instruments, you wouldn't recognise this as your typical Bloc Party song. With the notable absence of guitars, it's left to the rhythm section to do the honours - the bass sounds like the band have been listening to dubstep, the thundering drums are Titanic-sized and there are horns - yes horns, without getting too cheesy in a Mark Ronson style. It's all underpinned by the leading vocals of Kele, whose sings chin-stroking lines like "My Mercury is in retrograde".

Indie is a fickle genre, when bands like Radiohead are applauded for making largely electronic albums, Bloc Party's fanbase refuses to allow them to grow and move on. Unfortunately, it will be these same fans who launch a scatching backlash two albums down the line, when the band haven't developed enough. If they ignore the negative criticism and focused their more experimental side into an album, we could be hearing the next 'Kid A'.