Hot Chip

Hot Chip arrived in 2004 with a dreamy blend of ’80s innocence, lo-fi house and disco grooves. Wistfully driven by Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard’s soulful vocal musings, the collective have constantly refashioned their sound to subtly incorporate shades of ’90s R&B, post-punk and electro-funk. Always looking to modify their approach to songwriting and recording, their latest album, A Bath Full Of Ecstasy, sees them work with producers Philippe Zdar and Rodaidh McDonald. Recorded in London and Paris, the process of collaboration signified a more ruthless approach to production; crystallising Hot Chip’s sound to deliver their most cohesive and emotive album to date.

Do you find yourself influenced by whatever’s current, or are you mature enough now not to be dictated to by outside influences?

Joe: “We’re definitely inspired by other stuff. We all DJ quite a lot, so as part of that process we’re opening ourselves up to a lot of new dance music from around the world, and I find that’s a good source of inspiration. As a DJ, if you’re doing your job properly you’re watching the crowd to see what excites people. Sometimes I’ll hear a synth sound, bassline or drum programme that I think’s amazing, so I’ll quite often borrow ideas from those worlds. I’m not sure many other bands have a career as working DJs in this indie/dance world we’re part of, but it’s a big passion for us that feeds into our music and into the live show. We try to make the dynamics of the show work in the same way as a DJ set.”

The new album Bath Full Of Ecstasy definitely leans more towards the indie spectrum…

“I can see that. The first song is quite rocky and I think working with Philippe Zdar pushed it slightly in that direction. He has an amazing past in house music with Cassius, but his style of mixing is sonically aggressive and more from the rock world. It wasn’t a conscious move on our part to try to sound more band-like., for example, is more of a deep house track.”