Hot Chip – “Down”

Hot Chip – “Down”

The last time Hot Chip released an album was in 2019, when they unveiled the great A Bath Full Of Ecstasy. Various members have popped up here and there since, and the group recently collaborated with Ibibio Sound Machine on their new album Electricity. Now, Hot Chip are returning with their own new collection. It’s called Freakout/Release, and it’s out in August.

To make their new album, Hot Chip convened in their new Relax & Enjoy Studio, which Al Doyle finished putting together during the first year of the pandemic. Inspired by their cover of “Sabotage,” the band was trying to capture their live sound in the studio. “By the time we were able to be back together, we were turning on a tap and having a lot of ideas being poured out quite quickly,” Alexis Taylor said in a statement. Apparently the album is a bit darker lyrically, however, with Joe Goddard adding: “We were living through a period where it was very easy to feel like people were losing control of their lives in different ways. There’s a darkness that runs through a lot of those tracks.”

Along with the announcement, Hot Chip have shared lead single “Down,” which was the first song they worked on for Freakout/Release. It’s a funky track built on a sample from Universal Togetherness Band’s “More Than Enough.” It also comes with a video directed by Douglas Hart and Pulp’s Steve Mackey. Check it out below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Down”
02 “Eleanor”
03 “Freakout/Release”
04 “Broken”
05 “Not Alone”
06 “Hard To Be Funky” (Feat. Lou Hayter)
07 “Time”
08 “Miss The Blues”
09 “The Evil That Men Do” (Feat. Cadence Weapon)
10 “Guilty”
11 “Out Of My Depth”

TOUR DATES:
04/19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
04/22 – San Diego, CA @ Humphrey’s Concerts
04/23 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Festival
04/24 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
04/26 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
04/27 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
04/29 – Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues
04/30 – Amphitheater Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller
05/02 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
05/03 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
05/05 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
05/07 – Mexico City, Mexico @ Pulso GNP Festival
05/09 – Boston, MA @ House Of Blues
05/10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Avant Gardner
05/11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Brooklyn Bowl
05/13 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
05/14 – Chicago, IL @ Radius
06/03 – Glasgow, Scotland @ Junction 1 Summer Series
06/05 – Dublin, Ireland @ Forbidden Fruit
07/08 – Barcelona, Spain @ Cruilla
07/15 – Lisbon, Portugal @ Super Bock Super Rock
07/16 – Clitheroe, UK @ Beat Herder
08/06 – Norfolk, UK @ Wide Skies & Butterflies
09/02 – Malaga, Spain @ Cala Mijas Festival
09/21 – London, UK @ o2 Academy Brixton
09/22 – London, UK @ o2 Academy Brixton
09/23 – London, UK @ o2 Academy Brixton
09/24 – London, UK @ o2 Academy Brixton
10/01 – Berlin, Germany @ Tempodrom
10/02 – Cologne, Germany @ Live Music Hall
10/03 – Brussels, Belgium @ AB Ballroom
10/05 – Utrecht, The Netherlands @ Tivoli Ronda
10/08 – Paris, France @ Olympia

Freakout/Release is out 8/19 via Domino. Pre-order it here.

Matilda Hill-Jenkins

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