Album Review: In Our Heads - Hot Chip

Image source: BBC.co.ukI've already commented before that Hot Chip's last album, 2010‘s One Life Stand, left me a little cold... It felt like a band slipping through the cracks, trapped between two sounds, and whilst the result was not bad per se it just came off a little unsatisfying. In retrospect this makes some sense - Hot Chip have now split from major EMI and In Our Heads represents their first album for independent Domino.

More than any other single variable the move from a major feels like a considerable contributing factor to what is undoubtedly a return to form. In Our Heads feels like a band freed up from their own (or the label's?) image of what they should be. These songs are almost all less obviously pop than anything Hot Chip have released before. Whilst there are plenty of hooks and the trademark catchy choruses remain there are less radio friendly trick shots and more grown up songs than ever before.

Opener 'Motion Sickness' sets the pace, it's a soaring eighties ballad wrapped in early house production and it manages to achieve this without even appearing to try too hard. It's a disconcerted tribute to our complex times and music's key role in guiding us through it. And it is also beautiful - Alexis Taylor seemingly overwhelmed by his own capacity to feel, particularly when it comes to music - "Remember when people thought the world was round / everything spins on my head / on my compact disk" he sings.

Emotionally In Our Heads seems most preoccupied with the friction that exists between the heart's desire to take risks and the head's self-preservation instincts. Just listen to 'Don't Deny Your Heart', with its over-eager choruses, for example. The flip side of this feeling is the mind's inability to rid itself of the subject of the heart once it has crawled up inside and lain roots, as felt through the syrupy ballad 'Look At Where We Are' and the raw 'These Chains' - that unwillingness to move on.

This conflict keeps the album moving and culminates in the standout track 'Flutes' (which can be heard here). It's a sombre epic tale of retribution - that moment when you realise that failed relationships or emotional mis-fires take two. It builds over seven-minutes into a climatic emotional house record that calls to mind equal parts Detroit techno and Manchester bands New Order and Electronic.

For all the awkward angst of 'Flutes' the other standout is the even longer 'Let Me Be Him'. It's a wonderfully warm-hearted eighties inspired power ballad reminiscent of The Thompson Twins, the optimistic inevitable emotional rebirth punctuated by a belted out ”oh hey ho” refrain. Just try to resist joining in.

By going with their hearts rather than their heads Hot Chip have made In Our Heads one of their most complete and emotionally significant albums to date.

In Our Heads is released on Domino tomorrow, available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links].

Stream In Our Heads on Spotify below (Spotify account required):

Single Review: Being Supreme - Fish Go Deep

Taken from their forthcoming album this new single from Irish duo Fish Go Deep is pure tension and release. Starting with a slinky, fairly standard minimal intro everything melts away after the first minute, backing away as if to make room for the incoming bass line.

And for a moment the bass line steals the show, thick and dense as it is. But the other elements gradually fall back in - spongy drums and chanted vocals and a deep piano refrain. It builds out layer after layer, the feel taught like elastic at breaking point whilst the vocals continue to chant "We are so.... Deep".

And deep it is, at least until those vocals break into a rally that culminates in a fantastic break, like a pressure release. 'Being Supreme' is a big, bold house record.

On the flip is a a dub - the vocals are used sparingly and the rhythm is thicker but the space lets piano and jazzy stabs of brass move giving things a more summery feeling.

Being Supreme is released on Go Deep on 22 June and is followed by the album Draw The Line on 29 June. Both are available to pre-order here and here respectively on MP3 from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate links].

Stream Being Supreme below on Spotify [account required]:

Stream / Download: My My Hey Hey (Cousin Cole's Into The Black Mix) - Neil Young

After hearing it on the radio the other day I just couldn't resist sharing this remix by Cousin Cole... Recently I've been making the most of the fact that my radio in the bedroom can stream stations from the internet to do a bit of exploring. The result is that I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that Ibiza Sonica Live and Ibiza Global Radio sound almost just as good even when you aren't on the White Isle. The music played on both stations during the day has lots of big, warm, white space and it is just to my taste.

The remix above of Neil Young's 'My My Hey Hey' is a perfect example. It sounds a little bit like a mashup as admittedly at times the joins creak a little bit between the electronic elements and Young's original but I couldn't help but fall head over heels in love with this record. This remix actually looks to be about a year old but coming off of the back of Chromatics' recent cover on Kill For Love this feels like the perfect soundtrack for the season.

Enjoy.

Album Review: mst - Acid Pauli

In some ways a sufficient review of Acid Pauli's new album would simply read: "Pauli is friends with Nicolas Jaar and hangs about in Germany"

But whilst that does a pretty good job of describing what mst sounds like it doesn't really do Pauli's efforts any justice. This is undoubtedly electronic music cut from the same cloth as Jaar's - throbbing electronic IDM that can't bear to be contained by the confines of the dance floor. The German influence is also felt in the clean lines and focus of mst.

But this is Pauli's own album. For one he resists the urge to vocalise his thoughts. The echoey atmospherics of his work with alternative rock band the Notwist also rear their head. Whilst elements of this record feel like German techno it is simultaneously a messy tangle of clicks and crackles and clattering noise. So it is business on the sides but messy on top.

Much like Jaar's work Pauli's music suggests he is a better listen when playing his own music for himself than when constrained to the requirements of a crowd and a dance floor. And that makes perfect sense when you consider that Pauli's claimed ambition for this album was to create a dance record that reflected the the experience back into everyday life.

These pieces conjure a thrilling listen that act as a canvas for your own emotions, an atmospheric medium. The guttural samba of 'A Clone Is Not A Clone' gently moves through urban hustle and bustle with a gentle seeping paranoia that you'll miss if you aren't looking for it and 'Equation of Time' is could be the internal soundtrack for waiting for the bus or blowing bubbles in the bath. 'Eulogy for Eunice' peels out of the dark corner of the room like the first spit-spots of a rain storm that builds to a thunderstorm and innevitable torrential downpour. It is nine of the most atmospheric minutes ever pressed to record.

mst should put Pauli on the map but it also proves Clown & Sunset and Jaar still have much to offer.

mst is released on Clown & Sunset on 18 June.

Video: The Witch - Dombrance feat. Sourya

Not a massive amount to say here except for that this new single from Dombrance is pretty amazing. A beautiful slab of electronic soul distortion that has an irresistible build on it. The vocal and music go well together and this reminds me of something I can't quite put my finger on... Zoot Woman maybe?

The video is directed by Patox and is a little weird. And nicely the YouTube preview is a boob. The dancers seem to be simultaneously enjoying themselves whilst also freaking out. I also have no idea if these are just 'dancers' or whether they are in the band.

No idea on a release date or anything more really, so just sit back and enjoy.