Hot Chip at Bristol's O2 Academy

Hot Chip at Bristol's O2 Academy - review and setlist

After nearly 20 years in the game and seven albums under their belt, you would forgive Hot Chip for showing a few signs of fatigue as they embark on yet another sprawling tour.

But the genre-bending national treasures are as up for it as ever at Bristol’s O2 Academy and the crowd are too, despite it being the start of the week.

Following an impressive warm-up set from fast-rising singer Rosie Lowe, the quintet - who swell to a seven-piece when playing live - kick off with Huarache Lights - as they did when they played the Trinity Centre earlier this year, before delivering a masterclass in how to build a set.

Tracks from the fantastic recent album, A Bath Full of Ecstasy , are mixed in with old favourites to superb effect, with the abnd taking things down a notch or two just at the right moments before unleashing pounding basslines accompanied by dazzling strobe lights.

Hot Chip at the O2 Academy (Bristol Live)

The slow-building Flutes is the perfect mid-set song and they utilise it perfectly, with the mesh of synths and beats building to a beautiful crescendo which has large swathes of the sold-out crowd with their hands ecstatically raised above their heads.

It’s followed by the first single from the new album, Hungry Child , before one of their best ever pieces of work in the form of Boy From School , on which they demonstrate their musicianship by slowing down the tempo gradually before building it back up to full pelt, sending the crowd into frenzy.

Melody of Love is arguably the standout track on the new album and it proves to be one of the best tracks on the night too. Like a number of their other songs, it's a euphoric and danceable track but one which possesses a melancholic undercurrent. The intro - a combination of Alexis Taylor's haunting vocals and a simple piano chord - has everyone rapt before the track progresses beautifully in classic Hot Chip fashion.

After enduring crowd favourites Over and Over and Ready For The Floor, the encore kicks off with the slowest song of the night, Clear Blue Skies , before the heavens open in the form of a cover of Beastie Boys’ ageless Sabotage, which is as absurd as it is brilliant, and then electropop banger I Feel Better.

While some long-running bands show a dip in quality as they go on, Hot Chip only seem to get better and better, both in the studio and as a live outfit. Long may their surge continue.