In the mid 2000s, Hot Chip suddenly became ubiquitous in a music scene tired of landfill indie and macho rock. They brightened dancefloors with a particular brand of undemanding electro pop, and when Joe Goddard, one of the band’s founders, released his first solo album as a producer in 2009, it felt like a natural development for easy-going, clubbable music loved by hipster-accountants.
His third solo album ‘Harmonics’ continues this ably, but without any revelatory moments. That said, there’s still some very likeable music here. New World (Flow) featuring Fiorious uses the singer’s soulful rhymes with class, blending them with elegant textures and a delicate bass refrain that feels ecclesiastical.
It brings on board a shuffling dance beat that takes the sound a little ways towards dance act Jungle, without going full camp disco. It’s pleasant, churchy stuff.
Moments Die, featuring Barrie, hits some of the same marks, with gentle vocals matched alongside soft but driving rhythms and warm synths.
It’s not quite as attention-grabbing as the previous track but still has a heart and soul that feels very current and present, if a bit dull...like the 2024 Labour government.
There are further nice cuts in the elegant, spooky Ghosts and final track Reverie, which hits exactly the right generic switch for a dance album closer. It’s faster (around 130 bpm) and longer (nearly six minutes), and is essentially a progressive house track — one that builds and builds and builds. It’s probably the best song on the album and reveals an intensity and musical vision that, upon reflection, feels absent in the rest of the album.
This is nice, breezy synth-pop but, much like the work of Hot Chip themselves, you often feel like there is a very similar but ultimately more interesting version of this just over the hill. Goddard is a hugely skilled producer and this would likely form a terrific, conscientious happening at a festival or nightclub, but it lacks the vaulting ambition of LCD Soundsystem or even Gorillaz.
Joe Goddard Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri August 30 2024 - KILKENNY Set Theatre
Sat August 31 2024 - DUBLIN Workman's Club
Sat September 07 2024 - FOLKESTONE Damp Disco
Fri September 20 2024 - BIRMINGHAM Hare and Hounds
Fri November 08 2024 - GLASGOW King Tuts
Sat November 09 2024 - MANCHESTER White Hotel
Sun November 10 2024 - MANCHESTER White Hotel
Tue November 12 2024 - BRIGHTON Patterns
Wed November 13 2024 - LONDON Colour Factory
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