Hear the new Bloc Party single and see the video

Have they been listening to Pendulum?
Have they been listening to Pendulum?

London-based quartet Bloc Party continue to innovate and move away from traditional indie and rock guitar band sounds, and new single Mercury follows in the footsteps of Flux on a path towards the dancefloor.

Where Flux featured hi-energy trance rhythms, Mercury, produced by Jacknife Lee, seems to draw inspiration from drum 'n' bass stars Pendulum and early material by The Streets.

Opinion is split in the MusicRadar office, with one person even commenting, "Thanks for playing me the worst Bloc Party song I've ever heard."

Some of us quite like it though, and we are looking forward to throwing some ridiculous shapes while it rips up dancefloors across the UK in the coming weeks.

Listen to the new Bloc Party single Mercury via a stream from the band's official website, or watch the Planet Of The Apes-meets-Frankenstein promo video here.

Chris Vinnicombe worked with us here on the MusicRadar team from the site's initial launch way back in 2007, and also contributed to Guitarist magazine as Features Editor until 2014, as well as Total Guitar magazine, amongst others. These days he can be found at Gibson Guitars, where he is editor-in-chief.