Are you a hard-core fan? So devoted, in fact, that you can't wait three more months for the band's third LP? Well, you don't have to wait -- you can actually get a copy of Intimacy, which doesn't hit record stores until October 28, right this second ... so long as you've got a solid Internet connection.

Taking a cue from the likes of [article id="1570871"]Radiohead[/article], Nine Inch Nails and [article id="1565749"]Stars[/article], the British indie rockers are debuting their latest studio set online. At BlocParty.com, fans can download the 10 tracks three months ahead of the disc's physical release.

According to bassist Gordon Moakes, the online leak of the band's sophomore album, 2007's A Weekend in the City, three months before its official release was part of the reason why Bloc Party wanted to get Intimacy, to their fans as soon as humanly possible.

"It wasn't a 'rushed' release," Moakes explained of the album they began working on in February. "It would be a rush if it wasn't ready, I suppose, but in terms of the recording, we finished it in late June, early July. But the way media can be disseminated these days, we figured if it's finished, then it's ready to be heard. I think, certainly, if we'd decided to go the other route -- the CD being the first thing people heard -- I think we would have had to have a conversation about how we might tackle that this time around. Obviously, the Internet is such a tool for people, so a lot of people don't think twice about going online to try and find music. So why not use that to your advantage, I suppose."

For Intimacy, Bloc Party enlisted two producers -- Paul Epworth (the Futureheads, Babyshambles), who'd helmed their 2005 debut, Silent Alarm, and Garret "Jacknife" Lee (U2, Snow Patrol), who handled production on A Weekend in the City -- and split the disc down the middle, giving five tracks to each of them.

"We had one foot on each island, as it were, and, in a way, we were trying to remember what's been the heart of what we do," Moakes said. "If anything, with the second record, there was a bit of a compromise behind it, in that we were trying to marry up the two elements and not quite landing on either sort of level, I suppose. So why not just take it a bit further in each direction and actually follow it through a bit further?

"I think we just wanted to revisit some of the ways of working we'd enjoyed and be a bit more choosy about where we split the various talents of those two guys and marry it up with the songs we had at that point," he continued. "It's a bit more disjointed, in terms of the continuity. It was just a different approach, but I'm not sure if it was better or worse -- just a different attack, and one that suited this record."

While Bloc Party have no immediate plans to tour the States, Moakes said they'll likely spend the whole of 2009 on the road. He also said that, when Intimacy hits stores, it will most likely feature some bonus material, as an added incentive to those who had already purchased it online.

Moakes said the band had a more enjoyable experience working on Intimacy than they'd had on Weekend, because they didn't face the same pressures heading into the project.

"When making that second record, we did feel a lot of pressure, and there were lots of expectations, so we had to get through that, to the other side, so that we could feel like we'd gotten past that hurdle," he said. "That, in itself, was a huge relief for us. It did get a bit hairy, just as a band being on the road for such a long time, trying to create spontaneity night after night. But we got through to the other side of that and had some time out, time to reassess. This year, there's been a lot less pressure for us, really. It's quite nice to crown that with a new release, because usually, it's quiet stressful putting together a record."