News of a fresh Hot Chip record? Yes indeed—though perhaps more Wizard Of Oz than wicked. The seasoned British synth-pop veterans are poised to release their ninth studio LP, titled A Long Way From Kansas, in January, a playful nod to Dorothy and Toto’s cinematic journey. This set will be Hot Chip’s first full-length in nearly five years, even though they issued the career-spanning collection Joy In Repetition last year and have kept busy with solo projects. Beth Ditto and Eddie Chacon are both enlisted as guests on the new album.
Today the group teases the project with the lead single “Random Violence”, a new wave-tinged power ballad that captures much of the feeling of LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends” while swapping the relentless piano for orchestral textures. The parallel is fitting. Al Doyle sits at the crossroads of both Hot Chip and LCD, and the track also functions as a tribute to their mutual friend Keith McIvor of Optimo, aka JD Twitch, who died of brain cancer last year. The song opens as a Joe Goddard-led piece, but Alexis Taylor adds her voice in the chorus, and together they softly declare, “You gave me something to believe in.”
Goddard offered these words:
Last year in September our old friend and brilliant DJ Keith McIvor of Optimo in Glasgow passed away after a diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumour a few months earlier. He largely inspired the words of the song. He was a passionate music lover and a staunch believer in socialism. Many of the words relate directly to his death and to memories of being in Sub Club in Glasgow where we met 20 years ago.
Jack Cole directed the “Random Violence” video, and you can watch it below. And if you missed the DFA’s cover of the Waterboys’ “The Whole Of The Moon” in tribute to McIvor over the summer, have a listen to that as well.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Stuck Around”
02 “Waiting Around”
03 “Random Violence”
04 “The Mask Is Slipping”
05 “Splinter”
06 “Shortcut To Love”
07 “Me In Your Head” (Feat. Beth Ditto)
08 “Hook Me Up”
09 “Secular Hymns”
10 “The Garden” (Feat. Eddie Chacon)
11 “Crushing”
