"mercury", the first single from bloc party's third album "intimacy", was played on zane lowe's bbc radio 1 show on 7 july 2008. it then appeared on the radio 1 website fifteen minutes later. the exclusive followed a countdown timer which was put in place of the band's website for three days, which ended with a link to the radio 1 website at the time of lowe's radio show. many fans were expecting new songs over the internet, with some being annoyed by the act. the song had an electronic sound like the last single, "flux". during the first play of "mercury" on radio 1, kele was with zane lowe, and said that jacknife lee and paul epworth would be producing the new album. it was also said that the single was to be released on 11 august 2008. the video was put out with the single.