Bloc Party/Intimacy
Blimey. Having seemingly lost their way with dance singles Flux and Mercury, it turns out they knew exactly what they were doing all along.
Forget its download rush-release, what's most modern here is the music.
It's a thrilling, confident record that sees them outgrow indie shackles to aggressively conquer current pop music. Even Mercury, so harsh and cold as a single, fits in weirdly perfectly.
The opening venom of Ares sets the agenda, Matt Tong's fizzing drums - a theme of the record - relentless in pinning listeners to the wall.
Kele Okereke furthers the last album's imposing vocals throughout, by turns bitter and defiant, though his quiet desolation on the beautiful Biko is his best vocal performance to date.
What initially seems dissonant is soon revealed as powerful, stern songs.
Okereke's lyrics are its one minor drawback, the questions too oblique for music demanding attention and answers.
That's forgiveable when, whatever he's singing about, Better Than Heaven ends on a celestial, moving gospel finale, or One Month Off's tribal power.
Just when it looked like the band were subsumed in dance anonymity, they roar back. At all turns, a bold album that sees them outstrip most peers. 9/10