Lav's Music Corner

At some point in any great indie bands career, for some reason, they turn to a more synthetic and often more dancy sound. This isn't perfectly true for the pipeline of all three of these acts but it comes in varying degrees and covering them all together just made sense.  Life Is Yours  - Foals I didn't review this record right when it came out because I thought I knew what Foals were doing. After Part 2  of their previous studio effort failed to impress despite a great and hard-hitting lead single, they had turned towards making what is ostensibly a synth-pop album. I was wrong. Unlike many bands who enter the fray having abandoned their songwriting principles completely, Foals actually manage to bring out a number of catchy hooks alongside their ever-present satisfying compositions. The first half of this record features one shimmering high point after another as we breeze through a trilogy of singles that I wasn't crazy about at first but make the start of the record S...

This was a busy week full of big announcements, highly anticipated singles and the start of some promising new eras. For the second week in a row I had quite a tricky time putting this list together. 5.  Down  - Hot Chip After one of the more unconventional eras of their career a few years ago Hot Chip seemed to announce a return to the basics with this bright, catchy and incredibly dancy lead single. With punchy percussion and irresistible synths all built around an earworm sample it's very easy to explain and experience the great things about the track.  Listen 4.  Hips  - Warpaint This new era of Warpaint tracks has been defined by a gentle but sleek sound and this song is no different with playful basslines and ethereal vocal melodies. The percussion continues to be a huge highlight and the circular jam it goes on throughout the final 30 seconds is like icing on the cake. This is quickly becoming one of my most anticipated projects of the year.   L...

Hot Chip are a British synth pop band who released a number of critically acclaimed dance records in the latter half of the 2000's and into the 2010's. The bands last release was the critically underwhelming Why Make Sense? in 2015. They have released two singles for Ecstacy that predicted a potential change to longer and more abstract songwriting. Review By Lavender: While Hot Chip had an excellent run in the 2000's releasing four great albums starting with The Warning and moving up to In Our Heads , 2012 feels like a very long time ago for a band that feels like they have to prove themselves all over again. While Bath Full Of Ecstacy isn't the best Hot Chip album yet it definitely paints the picture of a veteran band creatively assembling and solid, but not watertight tracklist. I'm more positive on both of the singles within the context of the album than I was but themselves. Melody Of Love wasn't initially a favorite of mine but I've come to te...