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.

Alexis Taylor says of the song: “It’s about the world smashing into you, waves crashing into you, all-encompassing pain, and how you have to walk through it. The verses are about separation when families are divided against their will. It’s about strong friends. It’s also about Samuel Beckett giving Andre The Giant lifts to school, and about how Beckett must have learned a lot from Andre’s wisdom.”

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.”

Freakout/Release is another dizzying high in a multi-decade career that’s seen Hot Chip continuing to innovate and develop a rich, resonant songcraft. And while they continue to operate at peak form, the album also feels like a new chapter for the group—a collection of flesh-and-blood songs that finds the band reaching into the darkness to emerge as a true creative unit, their gazes fixed positively on the future ahead.

Freakout/Release is another dizzying high in a multi-decade career that’s seen Hot Chip continuing to innovate and develop a rich, resonant songcraft. And while they continue to operate at peak form, the album also feels like a new chapter for the group—a collection of flesh-and-blood songs that finds the band reaching into the darkness to emerge as a true creative unit, their gazes fixed positively on the future ahead.

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