After a tour-filled 2007, which included stops at major U.S. festivals Coachella and Bonnaroo, Hot Chip settled down to record what would be its first true studio album. Although it is the band’s third LP, Made in the Dark is the British electro-pop group’s first full-length that wasn’t recorded at home. The album follows the same electronic equation that made 2006’s The Warning so successful. This means more airy ballads with emotional vocal layering, mellow keyboard parts, complex percussion, and subdued looped drums (“Made in the Dark,” “We’re Looking for A Lot of Love”) juxtaposed with club-ready drum and synth driven cuts like “Don’t Dance” and “Shake a Fist.” Even though Made in the Dark does not mark a stylistic change for the Hot Chip, it is by no means a stale album, released just in time for the band to hit the road before festival season.
Hot Chip
Made in the Dark