Though Hot Chip has spent the past five or so years creating a distinctive sound, one where techno blips, disco beats and smooth vocals are combined skillfully, their previous releases have suffered from monotony. Their 2006 album The Warning was highly lauded, but two years later, it's clear the album had two stand-out tracks -- the infectious "And I Was a Boy from School" and "Over & Over" -- surrounded by a good deal of filler. Listeners who share these conflicting views of The Warning, who, like me, were impressed by Hot Chip's inventive sounds but found they wore thin over the course of that album, will be pleasantly surprised by Made in the Dark, their latest album.
This time, the London-based band delivers on the potential they have clearly demonstrated on The Warning and 2004's Coming on Strong. There's enough variety of form and style on Made in the Dark to keep any listener interested from beginning to end, evidenced by sublime ballads like the closing track "In the Privacy of Our Love" and the absolutely manic single "Shake a Fist".
This stylistic diversity leads to a remarkable consistency of quality, making it hard to identify particularly outstanding tracks. "Ready for the Floor" perfectly represents the strengths of Hot Chip -- an instantly catchy electronic track, it features a synth-backing track that can be appreciated by IDM snobs and dancing partygoers alike.
"Shake a Fist" is a much more intense experience than "Ready for the Floor," but is equally impressive. A well-chosen vocal sample, explaining a game called "Sounds of the Studio," introduces the bridge, which features layer upon layer of synth lines, drum-machine beats and all kinds of other electronic effects. When the song seamlessly transitions back to the chorus, the real genius of the track can be appreciated: For all the whacked-out electronic sounds, Hot Chip never forgets the primacy of song structure. In "Shake a Fist," as in the rest of the album, the band never veers off into pretentious Kid A territory.
"Wrestlers" is another album highlight. It relies on electronica beats and blips for percussion, but uses a very organic-sounding piano chord progression to add a soulful quality not often found from the likes of Hot Chip. The soothing R&B feel of "Wrestlers" is retro but not reactionary, combining sounds from different eras and ends of the musical spectrum deftly and, apparently, effortlessly. "One Pure Thought" opens with one of the album's most memorable guitar lines before the keyboards come in to put the characteristic Hot Chip stamp on the track. Not often are rock guitar and techno-influenced beats combined this skillfully, but auditory amalgamations like "One Pure Thought" are par for the course on Made in the Dark.
Hot Chip have delivered a very impressive album in Made in the Dark, one that features the characteristic sounds that have brought them fame in indie circles and enough musical momentum to keep listeners interested the whole way through. They may not have envisioned this as their "cross-over" album, but it certainly deserves to be.
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