Hot Chip - In Our Heads Review

By Benjamin Taylor / December 17, 2012

rating: 4.5

It's been a seemingly effortless rise to the top of the dance music pile for London's eccentric electro-pop quintet Hot Chip since arriving on the scene with 2004's Coming On Strong. It was 2006's 'Over and Over' that would propel them head over heels towards the beginnings of dance music superstardom, with its devilishly catchy beats and rhymes providing a smart satirical retort to the critics who'd branded them 'boring and repetitive' on album number one. After a short hiatus- whilst Joe Goddard and Alexis Taylor explored some interesting extracurricular side projects- Hot Chip return with album number five, a collection of songs bursting at the seams with infectious and emotive pop hooks and synths that, whilst it showcases Hot Chip's amazing affinity for drawing on a vast collection of disparate influences, heavily recalls 80's synth-based troupe New Order during their Power, Corruption & Lies phase. Trademark Hot Chip lyrical humour abounds here, most noticeably when Taylor impassively raps "I like Zapp, not Zappa... So please quit your jibber jabber," on lead single 'Night and Day'. Thankfully, this album is far more energetic than 2010's One Life Stand but, like that album, is brimming with sentiment. In Our Heads wears its booming electronic heart on its sleeve, melding smooth R n' B grooves with stormingly catchy synths - at all times welded together by Mark Ralph's super slick production. "Remember when we both first heard the wall of sound?" intones Alexis Taylor in his perfect high pitched melancholia on spectacular album opener 'Motion Sickness.' And thank god they did! Because In Our Heads may well be Hot Chip's finest and most accessible collection of songs to date. It's impossible to pick out one highlight here, but 'Motion Sickness', 'Don't Deny Your Heart', 'Flutes' and 'Let Me Be Him' all demand repeated listening: music this heartwarmingly wonderful makes you feel good to be alive...