Genre-bending Hot Chip have not only released some of the singles of the year but one of its best albums. As with Gorillaz and Gnarls Barkley recently, mid-way into the `noughties' we are starting to see some real wit and invention in pop music that may come to define the decade. `The Warning' finds them putting heart and soul into their curious mish-mash of folk whimsy, house and electronica. For all the sonics and low-fi trickery, and the comedy lyrics, there is beauty and genuinity shining throughout. Their songs are unconventionally tangential, with phases and subtexts, but pulled off with a playful insouciance that belies some of the technical brilliance.
After the abrasive aural assault of the opener `Careful' is the brilliant single `And I was a boy from school'. Its folksy swoon and off-beat lyrics are delivered over cheekily Balearic, Daft Punk-esque house loops to fantastic effect. Colours is a sweet, gracefully-building ballad with lovely twinkly electronic embellishments. The one-of-a-kind dancefloor masterpiece `Over and Over' is an obvious highlight and needs no introduction here, while `(Just Like We) Breakdown' is the kind of emotive electronic pop that Junior Boys might make if they had a little funk (and some backbone). The infectious but deeply silly `Tchaparian' describes drunken flights over Timbaland electro-funk, but its multiple parts are jarringly uneven where its neighbouring tracks sustain their moods more economically. `Look After Me' is a unashamedly soppy accoustic ballad, which totally gets away with its cheeky soul parody, while title track threatens to "break your legs, snap off your head" over a celestial groove.
Signed to DFA in the States, this album will inevitably draw comparisons between Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem. But while James Murphy's knowingly `cool' musical references can sometimes come across as overly esoteric, Hot Chip win you over with charm and an English pop sense (of humour) and sensibility. Great fun.
