As Bloc Party release their second single since A Weekend In The City, the jury is out again, just as it was for Flux. Mercury is yet another departure in terms of musical style and indicates a possible shift away from the genre of indie-rock that debut album Silent Alarm placed them in. The unexpected single sounds to me more like a Bloc Party remix by Phones or similar, not an original Bloc track. That said, I’ve always enjoyed Bloc Party remixes. So, is Mercury and good?

Yes and no. It has some things going for it. It as a good beat, and Kele Okereke’s vocals are crisp and enchanting as ever, even if the distorting and chopping of the vocals is perhaps unnecessary. The trumpets are a first for Bloc, but they work well with the dark sound of the track as a whole. I suppose the main problem with the track is that it isn’t Bloc Party as we used to know them. Singer Kele Okereke has often spoken of his desire to move away from guitar-rock and explore more electronica-inspired sounds. This is almost certainly a creation mostly of Okereke origin, and overall, it’s not bad. I’m still looking forward to the third album, as yet untitled and expected in early 2009.

If you haven’t already heard it, you can listen or watch the (very strange) music video on blocparty.com and you can also pre-order the single on CD, 7″ or 12″ vinyl from there too. The video sees a weird Frankenstein’s monster/bull/lobster mutant become president of the USA and start bombing places. No really.

Mercury is released on August 11th.