Hot Chip unveil video and remixes for “Broken” + 2023 UK dates
Hot Chip
New album Freakout/Release out now
“A mix of pulsing, oven-ready bangers and darker reflections, Freakout/Release exudes the confidence of a band operating at its giddy peak” Mojo 4*
“Their forthcoming eighth album, Freakout/Release, is a standout in a catalogue not short on them, filled with full-blooded pop songs that widen – and darken – the band’s usual scope.” The Guardian
“Another gold standard release” Record Collector 4*
“An immersive dance phenomenon” The Observer 4*
“One of Britain’s most original and consistently brilliant bands” NME
“Truly sublime” The I Paper 4* / Album of the Week
“The sound of Hot Chip simply cutting loose” Clash
August saw the release of Hot Chip’s acclaimed sixth album Freakout/Releasewhilst September saw the band play to nearly 20,000 fans in their hometown across their 4 night residency at London’s Brixton Academy. Today, Hot Chip are pleased to share the new video and several remixes for album cut “Broken”. Amidst a bright backdrop and a beaming chorus, “Broken” finds Taylor emotively exploring the feeling of defeat, as well as how the people around us help put ourselves back together. “Sometimes you see friends who are really struggling with things in their lives,” he explains, “and you feel empathy for what they’re going through. We can all relate to the feeling of being broken down by things.”
The video, directed by Maxim Kelly, is a take on the classic boy band video but one made by malfunctioning A.I. Kelly says: “I’m intrigued by A.I. machines doing artwork. In the future, robots and computers might make music videos too, this is what I imagine the first will look like. I referenced the boyband videos I grew up watching on MTV, overly sentimental with emotional and gut-wrenching performances. In this video, soulless androids run through all the motions and cliches of these videos with deadpan robotic precision. It’s a pop video with all the entertaining and watchable bits taken out.”
On the remix front: Jacques Lu Cont, aka producer Stuart Price (Dua Lipa, Madonna, Pet Shop Boys, Rina Sawayama) offers a souped-up house version of “Broken” whilst Planningtorock’s “Planningtohope” remix plays on the themes of the song as it gradually opens up to reveal a hopeful and warmer dance edit. Closing the trio of remixes are DeeWee artist Each Other, aka Justin Strauss & Max Pask, who have created a bubbling epic, eight minutes of drawn out dancefloor deliciousness.
Additionally, the band (Owen Clarke, Al Doyle, Joe Goddard, Felix Martin and Alexis Taylor) have been confirmed to headline next summer’s Kaleidoscope Festival at London’s Alexandra Palace.
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.
Upcoming live dates
3rd February – The Warehouse Project @ Depot Mayfield, Manchester
30th April – Warm Up Festival, Murcia
17th June – Beyond the Pale, Wicklow
15th July – Kaleidoscope Festival @ Alexandra Palace, London
Tickets
Freakout/Release is available on Dom Mart exclusive orange-coloured double vinyl, Indies exclusive brown-coloured double vinyl, standard double vinyl, CD and digitally. All vinyl editions have an exclusive track “The Most Painful Game”. Buy: Dom Mart | Digital