It seems like it was only yesterday when Kele Okereke and co chopped, sliced, dazzled and outshone with their last album. It looks like the chief item on the party's manifesto is to keep up their reputation as one of the UK's most critically acclaimed bands. Certainly, the prospect of a new album has me drooling in expectation, even if the dust has yet to gather on the last one.
Mercury sees the band leaning further towards their dance influences, while lyrically treading the same distopian ground as A Weekend In The City. Like all their other work, it's highly individual and challenging and takes a couple of listens to truly bed in.
As a hint of what's to come it's certainly tantalising and memorable, but it also feels a little over produced in places. The inclusion of some intrusive horns throughout the track is a little distracting and may have you longing for the more visceral raw sound of Silent Alarm.
But what the hell - they still knock everyone else into submission (are you reading this John Lydon?) and this track continues to confirm their status as one of our most relevant and vital national treasures. It seems that the temperature is going to rise further before the party's done.
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