Album Review: Hot Chip - In Our Heads

In the two years since Hot Chip's last release, One Life Stand, the dance scene has been swamped by the jarring sounds of dubstep and vocals of screaming youths. If all this has been driving you a little mental, than Hot Chip's fifth LP In Our Heads is perhaps the antidote you've been seeking. An album that intelligently fuses pop and house, the London quintet are back with their brilliant samples, thoughtful lyrics and a twinkle in the eye.

After enjoying recent success with other ventures, (Alexis Taylor – About Group, B&O; Joe Goddard – The 2 Bears, solo) the band re-cooped and recorded their first album for Domino Records. Another first was the presence of an outsider during recording, with Mark Ralph engineering the release.

Heralding you into the album is MotionSickness. With brassy melodies and a lyrical nod to the discovery of dance music, it opens a first half that comes in small peaks and troughs. The album doesn't really heat up until midway through with first single Night & Day. With dirty beats, infectious hooks and lyrics “Let's sweat, let's sweat”, this is the album's biggest push for the dancefloor, however it lacks the punch of their previous hits. The seven-minute Flutes follows. Opening with tribal chanting and woodwind samples, it then sprawls out into a tune that pays homage to the Chicago House mixes of the late '80s.

The best of the down-tempo numbers – and there are a few – comes towards the end of the album in Let Me Be Him. Sung in a lower register, with joyous chorus and bird samples scattered throughout, this track takes you from the dark of the club into a shining morning after.