Made in the Dark
| Made in the Dark | ||||
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| Studio album by Hot Chip | ||||
| Released | 4 February 2008 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 53:57 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Hot Chip | |||
| Hot Chip chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Made in the Dark | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 78/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Blender | |
| The Guardian | |
| MusicOMH |  |
| The Observer | |
| Pitchfork Media | (7.0/10) |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Times | |
| Uncut | |
Made in the Dark is the third studio album by English indietronica band Hot Chip. The album, comprising 13 songs, was released on 4 February 2008 on the EMI label. It peaked at number four on the UK Album Chart, number 25 on the Australian album charts, and entered at number 109 on the U.S. Billboard 200. Several singles have been released from the album, including "Shake a Fist", "Ready for the Floor", which reached number six on the UK Singles Chart, and "One Pure Thought".
A defining feature of the album is the strong presence of romantic ballads. The ballad "Made in the Dark" was described as "sublime" by one critic, although not all the ballads received universal praise. Alexis Taylor, the main contributor to the lyrics, stated that he was proud of the album lyrically and felt that feelings of love and happiness, partly the result of his recent marriage, had contributed to the album's romantic tone.
Critics stated that songs such as "Ready for the Floor" and "Bendable Poseable" were reminiscent of their previous release, The Warning. The style of the album was not considered as big a leap forward as the changes evident between Coming on Strong (2004) to The Warning (2006). It was said that Hot Chip had honed their music by using quirks of their musical style to make more accomplished music, however, some critics felt that the album lacked focus, containing too many varied elements; it was described as "loveable but flawed".
Hot Chip often record their music in a bedroom. However, the band took a different approach in recording Made in the Dark to make it sound "not quite so homemade". Recording took place in a variety of locations, including in-studio and live venues, to make "different acoustic spaces to be obvious to the listener". Lead vocalist Alexis Taylor said there was tension between the band's members, as the band did not want to continue creating music in the same way, but also did not want to "throw away a songwriting and production partnership that has worked before." Taylor and vocalist Joe Goddard worked on some of the songs together. Several songs were overdubbed with parts of the rest of the band playing.
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