NEWS
EVENTS
Spoon's 'Hot Thoughts' - Dynamic, fun and very Spoon-like
Spoon is one of the most inconsistent bands of our time. With each album, the term “reinvention” is thrown around amongst the swaths of critics that shower the band with praise, but it is for good reason.
In 2014, they released the album They Want My Soul, it was arguably the most “un-Spoonish” Spoon record.
At the same time, it neatly combined all their strengths, and in some ways, it was an expected progression. What was previously kind of a “strangely accessible” art rock that people could like after a few listens, became more blatantly accessible while still being experimental.
With Hot Thoughts, well, I’m going to start with the fact that it is a collection of real toe-tappers, which on occasion turn into an all out boogie-inducing dance session. Each song crackles with originality.
The title track and first single 'Hot Thoughts' is a multi-dimensional track that grips you in with one listen. While 'Do I Have to Talk You Into It' feels like a 70’s rock rendition of a James Bond theme song which had been shot into space and back. If you can’t get your head around that sentence, you’ll manage to once you've listened to the song.
However one of the best tracks is 'Pink Up' which sounds like a deeply psychedelic journey that slides you into involuntary deep thought, regardless of what mood you’re in.
It is ever-changing, with the sounds shifting from under to beside you, surprising you with synthy elements, and the band even managed to slip in a bit of Radiohead-esque reversed vocal tracks towards the end.
Another notable thing is the way Spoon ties the album off with a touch of class. An ambient jazz instrumental that could’ve been in Cowboy Bebop’s soundtrack is a real treat for the inner-audiophile.
However, there is unfortunately a noticeable, consistent theme in this album — and that is in fact, its inconsistency. I would argue each track is magnificent in its own way. But placed next to each other, in this particular album, it feels forced. And the wholeness that made They Want My Soul a great album, is absent.
It’s kind of strange to say an album full of great songs isn’t a great album. But Hot Thoughts behaves like a greatest hits album with songs from the future.
Hot Thoughts, as I suppose the name suggests, is basically like a series of great ideas that didn’t quite form a coherent sentence when explained. In the end, it doesn't matter all that much though because each song is interesting enough in their own right.
