4/5 stars
A common factor in the output of Hot Chip (who’ve now been making music together for 15 years) is the upbeat, domineering singles that precede their albums. Just look at The Warning’s prologue ‘Over And Over’, the classic title track from 2009’s One Night Stand, and ‘Night And Day’ from the band’s last record, In Our Heads (2012). The albums have always been solid, but tend to quake in the shadow of the shiniest pop moments. Like Blur, Hot Chip are something of a singles band.
Why Make Sense? differs in that there’s no show-stopping lead single, just eight consistently great party tracks and a couple of soulful slow jams thrown in for good measure. At one point, a double album was proposed, but the recordings were eventually culled to form a single 45-minute album. This ensures there’s no filler to detract from the killer, though the four-track companion EP continues the high quality of the album’s ten tracks. This aspect of valuing quality over quantity extends to the songs themselves. The uncluttered, clean production by the band and co-producer Mark Ralph sharpens the focus on the direct, hook-heavy compositions.
It all goes to show you don’t need extra layers of cheese on top of what Hot Chip already deliver to get the best out of them.
Hot Chip’s Why Make Sense? is out through Domino/EMI.
