Pugwash News - Portsmouth's Official Student Newspaper

Hot Chip return with their fourth studio album and their most diverse and mature sound yet. However, I’m still not sold that’s a good thing.

One Life Stand sees the band mix their traditional ‘geeky’ synth-pop sound that we’re all used to with a much more minimalist, down-tempo, vocally-led feel, reminiscent of the title track from their last album, Made in the Dark.

Unfortunately the album doesn’t live up to the reputation that Hot Chip have built themselves and none of the tracks come close to the level of indie anthem ‘Over and Over’. In fact, the whole album seems to have strayed a long way from their earlier work.

Certain tracks however, like ‘Hand me Down your Love’ and ‘I Feel Better’, show promise but still fall short of expectations.

The album on the whole feels like it’s been rushed out and many of the tracks not given the thought or time they needed. This leaves you with half an album. To be fair to the band that half is good, it’s just the other leaves much to be desired.

(One Life Stand was released on February 1 on Parlophone Records.)