Hot Chip unveil new single “Eleanor”
Fresh from the announcement of UK instores and remixes for “Down”, Hot Chip are happy to unveil the second single from their forthcoming eighth album Freakout/Release (due Aug 19th). Entitled “Eleanor”, it’s an absolute belter of a song whose taut pop swings with a classic gait not unlike Fleetwood Mac’s glory days. With a joyous soaring chorus: “Even if you believe that there’s nothing more / I feel heaven knocking at our door / Eleanor – evermore” that speaks to the resilience of people and the memories that remain.
Joe Goddard describes the creative plan of attack as creating the album: “In a natural way, without too much discussion or a grand plan.” “Eleanor”, like several songs on Freakout/Release sound positively laser-focused despite their loose-hang origins: “These songs feel like accomplished pop songs, but it was just us making music in a room,” Al Doyle explains. “Those moments are a testament to how we’ve developed as songwriters and musicians ourselves.”
Fittingly, harnessing Hot Chip’s irreplicable live energy in a studio space was in the front of the band’s mind, as they found themselves particularly inspired by their cover of Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” that’s become a setlist staple. “The idea of being out of control is always there in dance music, in a positive sense,” Doyle explains while discussing the cover’s influence on the new album.
Lyrically, Freakout/Release explores darker emotions than previous Hot Chip albums have, drawing from the personal and the political to chart the ways people survive even amidst immovable struggles. “We were living through a period where it was very easy to feel like people were losing control of their lives in different ways,” Goddard explains. “There’s a darkness that runs through a lot of those tracks.”
Over the last 18 years, Hot Chip have established themselves among similar British luminaries like Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode—a true gap-bridging between the worlds of pop and dance music, with a catalogue of songs that move bodies and touch hearts with equal impact.
Hot Chip are Owen Clarke, Al Doyle, Joe Goddard, Felix Martin and Alexis Taylor.
Upcoming live dates
5th August – Junction 1 Summer Series, Glasgow
6th August – Wide Skies & Butterflies, Norfolk
Thursday 18th August – Banquet @ PRYZM, Kingston
Friday 19th August – Resident @ Chalk, Brighton
Tuesday 23rd August – Rough Trade East, London (DJ set)
22nd September – o2 Academy Brixton, London
23rd September – o2 Academy Brixton, London
24th September – o2 Academy Brixton, London