I've not listened to this album much in the last three years as I think the terrible cover and strange title might be deflecting me. The first track "Melody of Love" has a lush production that I don't normally associate with Hot Chip. Closer examination of the credits reveals this album uses external producers which may explain its added sparkle.
The seconds track "Spell" sticks more closely to the band's normal recipe and sounds strong and melodic - even if the Vocoder is a little over used. The title track is a mid-tempo R&B influenced groove that uses auto-tune on the vocals but misses the mark for me.
When I first heard "Echo" I thought it was about to break into "The Circus" by Erasure, but as the track develops it actually becomes a nice groove with some great drum programming. I own a number of remixes of the next rack "Hungry Child" that develop it into a more immediate dance track, but the original version here is much more satisfying. This track builds the atmosphere beautifully before the beats come in and lift it to another level. Like a lot of the tracks I've heard so far there is a great groove here but I'm not sure the melodies are as strong as on previous albums.
The best song on the album may also be the best song Hot Chip have ever recorded. There's something about "Positive" that appeals to me on every level; the lyrics are the irreverent and yet touching, the drum programming is just perfect and the atmosphere created by the synth textures is sublime.
Things slow down a little for "Why Does My Mind" and the bossa nova beats of "Clear Blue Skies" but neither are very impressive. The final track "No God" is a clear attempt to generate an epic finish but it is only partially successful. I should listen to Hot Chip more. I think I regard them as being a bit 'hit and miss', but listening to albums like this I realise they are more consistent than I recall. 3/5
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