Hot Chip – Freakout/Release review

Expressing yourself differently within the confines of your fan’s expectations has always been a probem for any artist; whilst a few are in the luxurious position of taking their following with them regardless of direction, most have to pay heed to the risks of total reinvention.

Having spent time in the pop world writing for Katy Perry in the run up to 2019’s A Bathfull of Ecstasy Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard and Alexis Taylor subsequently produced a collection of songs which for the most part were sweet without being suffocating. For it’s follow up, things have changed considerably, Goddard explaining that by way of inspiration ‘There’s a darkness that runs through a lot of those tracks.’

To be clear things haven’t exactly gone Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now, but most of us would struggle to claim ambivalence to events in the world around us – and Freakout/Release is no exception. They care: Closer Out of My Depth is part hand-holding, part-therapy and it’s joined in tone by Alone and Broken. But despite the overtones what they do best is still what they do best, with the funky opener Down and classic edition ‘Chip of Eleanor danceable in any context. A change in mood yes, but nobody’s going anywhere.

You can read a full review here.