INTERVIEWSNew Bloc Party Album Out Digitally August 21

Like Beck and the Raconteurs before them, Brit post-punk outfit Bloc Party are challenging the industry status quo, announcing the release of their new album less than week before it's set to arrive. That's right, Intimacy, the quartet's third full-length to date, will drop globally this Thursday, Aug. 21 as a digital download. But unlike their forbearers, frontman Kele Okereke and co. are offering computer-minded fans added incentive to snatch up the record when it drops as a conventional CD disc Oct. 28: Additional tunes.

Though details regarding the extra songs have yet-to-be revealed, the record -- produced by Paul Epworth (Silent Alarm) and Jacknife Lee (A Weekend in the City) -- can be pre-ordered now via the band's website with the digital copy dropping into fans' inboxes Thursday. And while you wait out the three remaining days until its arrival, check out the music video for "Mercury," the new single off Intimacy.

Intimacy tracklisting:
1. "Ares"
2. "Mercury"
3. "Halo"
4. "Biko"
5. "Trojan Horse"
6. "Signs"
7. "One Month Off"
8. "Zephyrus"
9. "Better Than Heaven"
10. "Ion Square"