Bloc Party released their new album two days ago on February 5th. Of course I've had this album for a few weeks now and have been playing it virtually non-stop since I got it. Bloc Party's debut album, Silent Alarm, set a high standard for the next album. Despite mixed reviews from critics and fans alike (with many fans saying they are "disappointed") I believe they've hit the mark again.

One of my favourite tracks has to be, as the title of this post suggests, "Hunting For Witches". This is the second track on the album after "Song For Clay (Disappear Here)" and opens with some glitchy cut and paste vocals in glorious stero that wouldn't have been out of place on Silent Alarm. You may wonder where this is going, until the driving guitar kicks in. Bloc Party at their best, for me at least.

The lyrics reflect the July Bombings and the "War on Terror", how terror is seemingly all around and the media possibly blows everything out of proportion. "Now is not the time for liberal thought" perhaps implies that the government and even the media is dictating what we should think and do, as "fear will keep us all in place". Well that's the intellectual make-up-meanings-for-what-they've-said-like-I-know-that's-what-they-were-thinking-about-English-Lit bit over with, now onto how much the song kicks ass.

The opening alone, as I've said, is enough to give this song top marks. The song builds up to the massive guitar intro, which then fades out in the chorus to let the vocal melody take the lead. The beats are kept scatty and the chords are wound tight to give the song a kind of paranoid effect .. ok enough with the English Lit.

Anyway, listen and love. It's awesome.

Rating: 9.2/10

Let me know what you think of the track here