One Life Stand, the latest album by British Electropop-ers Hot Chip reveals the same upbeat band as before, only with less goofiness than on previous releases. Their electronica sounds more akin to a-ha this time around than to Stars or Crystal Castles, which is a refreshing change of pace.
The album starts off somewhat ponderously with organs and drums that bring to mind images of hallowed halls and dark churches.
From there the album begins a steady build toward a brighter sound, but continues to be calm and methodical, rather than frantic and poppy. The album does seem to have an underlying sadness to it, which is accentuated by darker beats and austere string instruments. This gives the album a more polished feel but puts it in danger of sounding like soundtrack music. This is especially evident on ""I Feel Better,"" which gives the distinct impression that it should be playing as Jack Sparrow rides his sinking sci-fi ship into the harbor while surrounded by a convulted laser light show.
The lyrics tend to be quite positive and seem to be more a message the band wants to convey than a story they want to tell. By the fourth track, they've started to get back their giddy synths, but they also mix in some '80s roboto movement to the rhythms.
In general, the album seems more sincere and striving than previous albums, which is evidenced by lyrics such as ""Happiness is what we all want,"" ""I only want to be your one life stand,"" ""It's a wild love that I have for my brothers"" and ""Now that we're older / there's more we must do"" to list a few.
Breaking somewhat away from the rest of the album, the track ""Slush"" starts out with a hearty course of ""hum-a-na-hum-a-na"" and abandons any techno beat in favor of an acoustic guitar, piano, and cello.
Overall, the album seems to be a much more grown-up and mellow work with lyrics that seem closer to their hearts than the happy-go-lucky songs of previous albums.
