The month of August brought a pleasant for fans of British indie alternative band Bloc Party. The band announced their new album, Intimacy. Then, three days later, it was out. Not out in the physical sense; they seem to have taken a page out of Radiohead's book and offered the CD as a download, however, this is no "pick your price" model; the album is available only through the Bloc Party official website as a digital download for 7£, or $10 to those of us on the other side of the Atlantic. Speaking of Atlantic, one thing that seems to be troubling is the Atlantic Records logo in the bottom corner of the North American download page. Has Bloc Party gone over to the dark side of major label recording? It doesn't seem so at any rate; Atlantic could have just been brought into the picture for distribution purposes. We will have to wait and see.
Anyway, major label or not, the album is absolutely incredible. If the lead single Mercury is any indication of the direction of the album (and believe me, it is), they have taken a far more experimental approach on things this time around. And it works. Starting out on Ares, you see the sound of this album in full colours. Mercury, the lead single, is an incredibly catchy, almost electronic track that will more than likely be stuck in your head for days. The rest of the album follows suit; not one song is less than stellar. Signs is like Blue Light on steroids. One Month Off is an upbeat track, but there are plenty of slower ones (Biko, Less Than Heaven) to create the perfect balance. The album is a somewhat short 10 tracks, but not to worry; the full release of the CD in late October will contain bonus tracks (kind of a dick move towards those who only purchased the download, but the download was nonetheless a step in the right direction.)
Here are some tracks from the album, for you to decide on yourself. Right click and "Save As..." to download.
02 - Mercury.mp3
06 - Signs.mp3
07 - One Month Off.mp3
