Sometimes you need a little bit of party and a little bit of reflection. At the same time, both elements should probably be kept completely separate. London’s Hot Chip, filled with its synth beats and electro-pop sounds, brings its skills to the table and tops them off with a dollop of smooth ballads that are more instrumentally nude than its upbeat tracks.
The collision of these two types of musical composition, however, fails to come off as genius or groundbreaking, and instead instills the wish that the two genres were laid down on two different albums.
The first track, “”Out at the Pictures,”” builds steadily with cool confidence and a catchy beat that propels the album forward with equally beat-infused, poppy and obscure tracks. As “”Shake a Fist”” progresses with its deep synth beats and conglomeration of digitized sounds, it becomes evident that the lack of regularity in songs is one of the aspects that sets Hot Chip apart from other artists who use similar elements.
Party-esque tracks bounce by, including “”One Pure Thought,”” which is fabulously dynamic from its raw guitar licks and touch tone beats to its rhythmic, double layer vocals.
Tracks like “”Made in the Dark,”” “”Whistle for Will”” and “”The Privacy of Our Love”” slow the album down with dewy vocals, slow drums, piano and startlingly better songwriting. In fact, the quality of the vocals and instrumental aspects of the later tracks on Made in the Dark is superior to the beginning tracks in a refreshingly different way. It seems that the album, start to finish, is a symbol of Hot Chip’s progression to maturity. “”The Privacy of Our Love,”” which closes the album, is not nearly long enough for how perfectly well it is written and how beautifully it is stitched together.
Hot Chip
Made in the Dark – EMI Records
3/5 stars!
This concept showcases Hot Chip’s true talent in producing a deep, flawless ballad, but also chastises the group for scrambling such a bevy of genres together. When songs like the final track can last under three minutes and still be moving, it makes all of the longer, predictable Hot Chip songs fade away.
