Hot Chip

Hot Chip are a British electronic music band formed in London, in 2000. They have released six studio albums: Coming on Strong (2004), The Warning (2006), Made in the Dark (2008), One Life Stand (2010), In Our Heads (2012), and Why Make Sense? (2015). The group has also been nominated for the Mercury Prize.

History

Early releases

Early formative releases included the Mexico EP on Victory Garden Records (VG14), and the self released San Frandisco CD.

Coming on Strong

After years of self-releasing records, they signed with Moshi Moshi in 2003 and released their debut LP Coming on Strong in 2004. During this period, they were joined by Felix Martin and Al Doyle. They started working on their second album and signed a UK & US record deal with DFA Records and EMI. DFA and Astralwerks released their debut album for the first time in the US in late 2005.

The Warning

In 2006, Hot Chip released their second album, The Warning. Now signed to EMI in the UK, the band gained more mainstream appeal as well as the attention of critics. The album was shortlisted for the 2006 Nationwide Mercury Prize and was Mixmag's Album of the Year 2006. This album spawned also two UK top forty singles: "Over and Over" in March 2006 and "Boy from School" in May 2006. "Over and Over" received attention for its music video, which was directed by Nima Nourizadeh, and was also named as the best single of 2006 by British music magazine NME.

Colours (Hot Chip song)

"Colours" is the third single released by Hot Chip from their 2006 album The Warning. It was released on 14 August 2006, shortly after The Warning was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Prize. The single did not chart due to the inclusion of non-promotional stickers with each format.

Critical reception

The critical reception to the song was mixed. MusicOMH described "Colours" as "one of the album's woozier numbers" and stated it had "layers of smile-inducing vocal harmonies and twinkly synths". Boomkat.com stated that Hot Chip's approach to the song was similar to "Boy from School" by "tak[ing] a thudding electro heart and pump[ing] it full of indie melancholy", while Contactmusic.com said "Colours" "transcends its initial child-like innocence to seem both gorgeous and, somehow, profound." The group chorus harmony was compared to Brian Wilson, while the drum rhythms were said to "sit between Stereolab and The Beta Band".

However, Clickmusic.com said it was one of the "weakest tracks" from The Warning and said it was "bland and reptitive [sic]". The melody was described as being "as lightweight as Victoria Beckham and less memorable than many of her singles."