Why Make Sense?
Though they’ve always boasted a winning sense of humor, Hot Chip are nothing if not sincere. The British outfit’s beautifully rendered sixth full-length—*Why Make Sense?*—is alive with the sort of emotional brilliance and meditative songwriting that has made them one of modern pop’s most rewarding listens. While the house-driven single “Need You Now” makes expert use of a 1983 Sinnamon sample to make its impassioned central plea, the sumptuous slow jam “White Wine and Fried Chicken” finds frontman Alexis Taylor giving thanks—for a meal and “a new place to stay/where my heart has permission, to sing all the day.”
With Why Make Sense?, Hot Chip continue to capture pure joy while acknowledging the limits of such a quest. They've always been traditionalists at heart, making pop songs that utilize the vocabularies of house, R&B, and hip-hop rather than the other way around.
The London five-piece present a wonderful and paradoxical pop collage of modern life.
The key theme of Hot Chips career has always been balancetheir blend of organic and electronic elements, of silliness and poignancy.
Hot Chip have built a career on transcending and challenging the parameters of dance music.
Subtle changes of tone create a lovely blend of breezy funk and towering, emotional house
Why Make Sense? is Hot Chip’s characteristically polished, generously tuneful tribute to wearing your heart on your sleeve.
Hot Chip combine a comprehensive knowledge of dance music history with keen pop skills on their sixth album
The band's sixth album has some good moments, but lacks consistency. Album review by Barney Harsent