Hot Chip are back with their latest album, In Our Heads, and though it’s not necessarily the instant hit the previous records have been, there’s still enough gems to keep fans happy. It builds too, and grows in strength the more you listen to it, making it more impressive the more you take in..
Opening track, Motion Sickness, kicks it off with subdued nostalgia and a big beat intro. It picks up pace and changes direction brilliantly in the final third, underpinning what will become of the rest of the album.
How Do You Do? spins out disco funk, but there’s a slight hint of a Casio demo about it. It’s best feature is the cleverness of the lyrical contradictions, “a heart is not for breaking, it’s for beating out all the life it takes to begin” and “a church is not for praying, it’s for celebrating the light that bleeds through the pain”.
The music gets a bit more interesting on Don’t Deny Your Heart with some cooler sound overlays and a flowing rhythm. Look At Where We Are slows things down with a Hot Chip take on an acoustic ballad.
The album stays on the slower side of a crawl for These Chains, with a military beat that kicks in half way through. There’s lots going on in the song, but it does little to pull you in.
However, the sound of old school, dance floor filler Hot Chip takes up the reigns on Night and Day. It’s got a great combination of sections that overlap each other to create a sweaty dance track with some smart Dury-esque tongue in cheek lyrics.
There’s a bit more style on Flutes that takes In Our Heads up a notch. It’s got a brilliant repetition to it that has been a big part of Hot Chip’s success.
There’s some cool drum beats and class, random musical directions on Now There Is Nothing that does a lot to save what might have otherwise been a fairly mundane track.
Although there’s no such salvation for Ends of the World, Let Me Be Him is a low-key slither of excellent electro-pop. The vocal tones work really well with the synthesizer and organ, and the echoing, chilled ending is a brilliant introduction to the potential of summer.
Final track, Always Been Your Love closes In Our Heads with a big sound chorus and some ace variations. Synth interchanges mix with tambourine percussion and soft organ to create a fine finish to the record.
Hot Chip’s In Our Heads doesn’t necessarily feel like a contender to earlier albums straight away, but it slowly draws you into the mastery of the band’s electro-pop skills.
Hot Chip, In Our Heads album review: 4/5
