Hot Chip is a British synthpop band. They released their first album, Coming On Strong, in 2004. Fifteen years later, A Bath Full of Ecstasy, is their seventh and most cohesive album.
I’ve been a Hot Chip fan since their debut, because after the dreadful guitar-driven 1990s, I was ready for a return to the synthpop sound that originated in the 1980s with groups like Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Human League and Information Society.
Although Hot Chip has received a great deal of acclaim over the past 15 years, both in the States and in Europe, their albums and singles have failed to chart well in the States, aside from Billboard’s Dance charts. The band has charted far better in their homeland, with albums In Our Heads peaking at #14 and Made in the Dark peaking at #4 on the UK Albums chart; One Life Stand peaking at #11 and #1 on the UK Albums and Dance charts, respectively; and with Why Make Sense peaking at #13 and A Bath Full of Ecstasy peaking at #11, both on the UK Albums chart.
A Bath Full of Ecstasy is Hot Chip’s most cohesive and downtempo album. Album opener, “Melody of Love,” sets the danceable but pleasantly downtempo feel for the album. Weaved in between the downtempo numbers are four hit-the-floor dance tracks, including the very funky “Spell,” the moody-turns-finger-popping dance scorcher “Hungry Child,” and the very synthpop dance tracks “Positive” and “Echo.”
Among the four more downtempo songs, my personal favorites are the title song and “Clear Blue Skies.”
Although A Bath Full of Ecstasy reach #12 on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, it failed to chart on the magazine’s Top 200 chart. And both singles, “Hungry Child” and “Melody of Love” failed to crack the Billboard Hot 100. But Billboard included “Hungry Child” on its list of 32 Best Dance Songs for January-June of 2019.
I’ve had to listen to A Bath Full of Ecstasy several times to decide whether I really liked it, or not. I found that if my mind was elsewhere and the album was just playing in the background, it all sounded too much the same. But if I was focused on the music, really listening to each song, they blended together nicely, but distinctively. So I’m giving Hot Chip a thumbs up for producing some musical ecstasy.
Meditation to the Groove! 