Await Barbarians
In between creating albums of secretly smart dance-pop, the members of Hot Chip have indulged in solo projects that focus on specific aspects of the band’s sound. Alexis Taylor's latest solo record lands somewhere between Hot Chip and his more abstract About Group project, slotting abstract sound experiments alongside simple songs that lean on a one main hook.
For a record that on first listen sounds so sparse, the second solo effort from the Hot Chip frontman is a trove of sentiment and intricacy.
On Await Barbarians, Alexis Taylor takes another break from Hot Chip's brisk electro-pop, delivering more of the confessional songwriting that graced 2008's Rubbed Out.
Hot Chip frontman Alexis Taylor's second solo release is a record for sleepless nights, an introspective wandering that shoots off incoherent musings at nobody in particular. It's spacey and big, but delicately intimate. Everything sounds so close, while
Album review: Alexis Taylor - Await Barbarians. "A fine collection of intimate, slow-burning, understated songs…"
The Hot Chip frontman's latest offering is a meditative and beatless collection of sketches, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong>
Alexis Taylor's second solo effort strikes a balance between a kind of country folksiness and offbeat futurism, says Neil McCormick