Made In The Dark

There's always that danger when you first listen to an album and it sounds exactly like how you expected it to sound. That's not to say that Made in the Dark isn't a good album, on the contrary, it's a great album, full of all the lovable electronic pop charm we've come to expect from Hot Chip, but just don't expect another massive leap, like the one they pulled off between Coming on Strong and The Warning, now that was a grand canyon affair. This album, however, feels like a more polished version of the things they were doing on The Warning, with a few extra dynamics chucked in for good measure and heck, even the slower songs with their ballad like progression, such as, `We're Looking For A Lot Of Love' sound more comfortable this time round.

So where The Warning was a bit of a rough around the edges pop affair, Made in the Dark is a slick, well-produced, ambitious album. The melodies here are so infectious, at times even schizophrenic, that you can't fail to start head-nodding, toe-tapping etc. `Out at the Pictures' begins with a slowly ascending synth, some shrill electronics that whirl around faster and faster until the drum beat kicks in and before you know it, Alexis Taylor has begun singing `It's on every street/ It's funky, cheap/ Sometimes you find/ You're in your mind' in his charismatic croon and you're going pretty much full on. And lead single, `Ready for the Floor' is instantly memorable with its bouncing bass, and a soaring chorus that Kylie would be proud of. But that's the thing about Hot Chip, they're not afraid to be as pop as pop can be, like album highlight `One Pure Thought', which starts off with an infectious blend of jagged guitars, sentimental synths and disco beats.

How much you like this album though, may well depend on two things, firstly how much you can take of Hot Chip flaunting their offbeat brand of pop when perhaps being too self-consciously fanciful. `Bendable Opposable' and `Wrestlers' seem to be quirky for the sake of being quirky and may lack some of the panache of the other songs. And secondly, how much you can appreciate their downtempo `lighters in the air' ballads, like `The Privacy of a Love', which is so laid-back it almost falls into Norah Jones territory, but not quite, though at one point Taylor sings `In the privacy of our love/ We're in each other as hand in glove'.

What this album also shows is how the band have managed to turn Indie-inspired, electropop, dance music kicking and screaming on it's head and filled it with a dry charm, `I'm only going to heaven if it tastes like Caramel' sings Taylor on `Hold On'; a syrupy polish as found on a `Touch Too Much'; and an at times manic, bouncy bass-filled pop fantasia like `Shake a Fist' and `One Pure Thought', and at others a slow-burning Gospel affair, like title track, but above all it's an album filled with a capricious sense of fun and one that does credit to the bands quirky nature. It's not one to shy away from anytime soon.

A good friend of mine recently gave me Hot Chip's latest album "One life stand" as a present for my forty first birthday. Having enjoyed that album, and made the obvious connections to Scritti Politi, I thought that I'd give this recording a try (I had previously had it on my Amazon wishlist). After listening to it for three or four times, I was not disappointed.

This is genuinely pleasant, humorous and at times very clever pop music. The record contains enjoyable flashes of 'white boy' soul, Depeche Mode-style electronica and I guess what passes for dance-music these days. All very good stuff. The link to Scritti Politi (who I like) is less obvious on this record than on "One life stand" but that could just be me.

All the tracks are of a consistent quality but stand out moments (for me) include - Shake the fist, with it's interesting cutting and pasting interlude; One pure thought, with its vaguely Indie guitar riff; Wrestlers with its inspired WWF lyrics; and Hold On, which also includes a very witty hook. Recommended.

Hot Chip are easily one of my favourite groups, but they're not without their flaws. This album, their third, is their most experimental. It pays off at times (Ready For the Floor), but there are places where it gets a bit too strange even for my liking (Shake a Fist). There is the odd moment of epicness (Touch Too Much), and even a good laugh (Wrestlers). Of course there are one or two ballads that also stand out (Whistle for Will). However, their fourth album, One Life Stand, has far more memorable moments (Thieves in the Night, One Life Stand, Alley Cats, We Have Love), and their second, the Warning, is an absolute classic (Boy in School, Over and Over, Look After Me, Arrest Yourself). But while Made in the Dark remains their weakest album, it's still good to listen to on occasion.