Review
Having outgrown the insular bedroom confines of their earlier work, Hot Chip abandon polite minimalism here, leaning hard into polar extremes. The record doubles down on hyperactive dancefloor machinery while sharpening an almost vulnerable, unvarnished romanticism, oscillating wildly between abrasive electronic floorfillers and unhurried slow jams.
That tension defines the sequencing. Rubber-band basslines, laser-fried synth leads, and live-off-the-floor drum clatter power cuts like "Shake a Fist" and "Ready for the Floor" with erratic, kinetic momentum. Yet just as the sweat thickens, the pacing downshifts abruptly into the delicate, piano-led intimacy of the title track and the woozy soul drift of "In the Privacy of Our Love".
Expanded with period B-sides and club cuts, this edition captures an idiosyncratic group operating without guardrails. By letting rough live-band friction coexist alongside gleaming synth patches and fragile falsettos, it preserves their most kinetic, delightfully unpredictable era.
