A potent sense of artistic and existential dissatisfaction permeates the synth-pop band’s eighth album.
Throughout, Alexis Taylor is prone to polar extremes of either mopey self-doubt or contrived affirmation.
Why Make Sense? is Hot Chip’s characteristically polished, generously tuneful tribute to wearing your heart on your sleeve.
The only reliable human standby amid the parade of dreary automation is Alexis Taylor’s voice.
Contrary to what James Mercer sings during its first verse, “Simple Song” isn’t really all that simple.
Hot Chip is faced with the task of controlling the erratic habits they developed on 2008’s Made in the Dark.
The band attempts to square its outsize floor-filling ambition with its previously established skill for intimate moments.
The intersection of the alien and the human is front and center in “Combat,” as disaffected young men seek meaning, Fight Club-style.