There is just no stopping Hot Chip, whose urge to write music is as strong as ever – and brings them a sixth studio album. There is no need for them to change their winning formula but there are some successful variants on their soft centred dancefloor fillers here. The heart of the album is the thoughtful ‘White Wine and Fried Chicken’, which may well bring a tear to the eye, while ‘Need You Now’ is the band at their most vulnerable. As ever Hot Chip at their most effective when shifting towards the dancefloor, as they do in ‘Dark Night’, the graceful ‘Easy To Get’ – with a great bit of deadpan disco camp in the middle – and the warm hearted ‘Love Is The Future’, where Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside is the guest. This is off the back of a strong, convincing ‘Huarache Lights’, a song about trainers that turns into commentary on modern London, opening the album in an incredibly positive frame of mind. Everything leads, however, to the title track itself, a characteristically strong and thought provoking sign-off. If you’re heading to one of the many festival slots the band are filling this summer, you’ve made a good decision off the back of this – because this is Hot Chip’s most ‘live’ album to date. It will serve them well!
4 out of 5
Reviewed by Ben Hogwood
