A Bath Full of Ecstasy | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 21 June 2019 | |||
Studio |
| |||
Genre | Synth-pop, alternative dance [1] | |||
Length | 47:35 | |||
Label | Domino | |||
Producer |
| |||
Hot Chip chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from A Bath Full of Ecstasy | ||||
|
A Bath Full of Ecstasy is the seventh studio album by English synth-pop group Hot Chip. It was released on 21 June 2019 and was co-produced by Hot Chip, Philippe Zdar, and Rodaidh McDonald, marking the first time the group worked with outside producers. The album was preceded by the singles "Hungry Child" and "Melody of Love".
It is one of the final albums released with production credits from Zdar – alongside his band Cassius' final studio album Dreems, released on the same day – as he died two days before its release, on 19 June.
Preliminary songwriting for A Bath Full of Ecstasy was undertaken by Hot Chip members Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard, and first traces back to work they did for pop singer Katy Perry. After she asked them to help with songwriting for her 2017 album Witness , the duo spent four days at Air Studios collaborating with her. Goddard called it "incredibly exciting" and said: "I loved writing for somebody else. She was great, very funny and easygoing". One of the songs they wrote, "Into Me You See", ended up on her album, while two others, "Spell" and "Echo", were re-worked by Hot Chip for A Bath Full of Ecstasy. [2] Felix Martin said, "We ended up with the leftover bits they'd written, being very much obvious pop stuff, and those songs ended up being something more interesting than that." [3] Taylor and Goddard also recorded demos at Goddard's studio in East London. [4]
When the members of Hot Chip re-convened to record A Bath Full of Ecstasy, they decided to work with outside producers for the first time and to allow them to have a say in the songwriting. [3] The decision was born out of the band's desire to take a different approach than they had on previous records, [3] and to have someone push them creatively. [4] Martin said, "We all recognize you need to set new challenges and put yourself in slightly different positions in order to provoke a different response artistically." [3] Goddard said that the group also wanted someone who would present additional choices of equipment for them to use beyond what they already owned. [4] After meeting with several producers, the band chose to work with Philippe Zdar of French musical duo Cassius, as well as Rodaidh McDonald. [3]
Initially, collaborating with outsiders caused some friction. Whereas Taylor and Goddard were open to McDonald challenging them to write better songs, band member Al Doyle had some difficulty trusting "the people [they] were working with were making better decisions than [they] would make as a band". Doyle said he needed to acclimate himself to McDonald's style, as the producer worked entirely on a computer, whereas Doyle was "more traditional and old-fashioned". Though Taylor was eager to follow the producers' direction, he said that in a few instances, he decided to follow his instincts and disregard their suggestions. [5]
The two producers had very different styles. McDonald, who Martin described as "mild-mannered", "analytical", and "goal-oriented", brought a pop-centric mindset and deliberated about the song structures. He recommended to the group where to add bridges, choruses, and hooks, how many bars they should last, and he considered how the songs should be edited differently for radio or streaming services. [3] Goddard said of McDonald, "He was quite ruthless – 'is this verse too long? Do we have to write something stronger? We should get to the chorus faster.' He pushed us to be more ambitious." [6] Martin said the producer was very honest and never afraid to suggest changes if he thought the songs could be improved, [3] which included urging lyrical rewrites. [2] He described McDonald as having an editor's mindset, in that "he would always look to make songs work better in a shorter, more punchy way." [3] Goddard said he was "really amazing at structuring the songs, so that it's very not overstaying its welcome". The band worked with McDonald in London. [4]
Zdar, on the other hand, was more interested in fostering a collaborative atmosphere in the studio amongst the band members and capturing the moments of "fun improvisation". [3] [7] Contrasting with his counterpart, Zdar believed in long edits of tracks instead of making short pop songs. [3] Taylor said Zdar had a knack for spotting the vocal melodies and hooks in songs, and his mixes emphasised them while also giving "more space in the music". Taylor also enjoyed the unfamiliar equipment and instruments that Zdar offered the group, helping them deviate from familiar habits. [7] Goddard called him "bold and passionate" and praised his skills at "working with bass, making records feel really full and alive". He said the producer's "sense of joy and wonder at the world" helped instill the group with more confidence. They worked with Zdar at his studio, Motorbass Studios, in Montmartre, Paris. [4]
Goddard credited the band members' musical pursuits outside of Hot Chip with improving them as a band, saying that they honed their skills "either as a musician or a producer, an arranger or a live player". He cited Doyle as an example, saying he had strengthened his guitar and bass guitar playing due to his experience performing with LCD Soundsystem on tour. [4]
Approximately 20 songs were in consideration to be included on the album. Martin said that if decision of the track listing has been left entirely to the band members, the album would have comprised 10–12 songs, but they received advice from the record label and producers to keep it more concise. [3]
The band announced the album on 4 April 2019, [8] publishing the artwork, track listing, and release date, as well as concert tour dates. The news was accompanied by the release of the record's lead single, "Hungry Child", and its music video. [9] A second single, "Melody of Love", was released on 29 May 2019, along with a music video. [10]
A Bath Full of Ecstasy was released on 21 June 2019 in several formats. A standard edition of the record was released on vinyl, CD, and in digital formats. A deluxe edition was released on two vinyl records, with a pressing on transparent orange and turquoise discs, a black and white sleeve, and autographs of the band members. [9]
The album artwork was designed by Jeremy Deller and graphic designer Fraser Muggeridge. [2]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 83/100 [11] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [12] |
Exclaim! | 8/10 [13] |
The Independent | [14] |
Mojo | [15] |
NME | [16] |
The Observer | [17] |
Pitchfork | 7.3/10 [18] |
Rolling Stone | [19] |
The Times | [20] |
Uncut | 7/10 [21] |
Will Hodgkinson of The Times called A Bath Full of Ecstasy "as warm and appealing as its title suggests". He said the album would be merely escapist if "not for the melancholic undertow of the melodies and the empathy of the lyrics, making this beautiful album a summer soundtrack with depth". [20] Roisin O'Connor of The Independent called the album Hot Chip's best, saying they "offer up some of their most poignant phrases to date". The review concluded, "For all its glimmering synths and the robotic pathos of Taylor's idiosyncratic vocals, this is a record with both heart and soul." [14] Damien Morris of The Observer said the album saw "the band's gift for melody and grasp of pop's dynamics tweaked into transcendent shapes" by Zdar and McDonald. He opined that the group sound their best when delving into "the comforting predictability of that pulsing beat" of house music. [17] Pitchfork 's Jonah Bromwich said, "it's compulsively listenable, oddly moving, and stranger than it first appears, as the band gets existential on the dance floor." He thought the album was most effective when the producers pushed the group beyond their comfort zone, and despite some "truly dopey lyrics", he praised the reassuring nature of the music, writing, "It's music that creates a soothing bubble, not to seal off the outside world but to create space to breathe within it." [18]
Joe Levy of Rolling Stone praised the group for making music that is simultaneously philosophical and hedonistic. He called the sound of the record: "calibrated normality giving way to all sorts of experiments and revelations. It's clunky and smooth, a clip clop symphony of simplicity done up with complicated touches — both sonic and emotional — underneath." [19] NME 's Elizabeth Aubrey called the album "their boldest offering in years" and "a celebration of life in full technicolour". She praised the group for making dance music as an act of defiance, writing, "Amidst all the experimentation and extremes of this impressive album is a message about life: bathing in the moments of ecstasy will ultimately enable us to cherish and value life more." [16] Anna Alger of Exclaim! also praised the album for its comforting nature, saying that it "provides hope within strife, encourages repeated listens as much for their danceability as the quality of the writing." [13] Stephen Worthy of Mojo commended Hot Chip for their choice of producers and said the band "remain ruthlessly consistent and relentlessly reliable". He called the title track "fail-safe festival material" and "Hungry Child" the group's "purest club moment yet". [15] Uncut 's Piers Martin said the band "have seldom sounded as youthful and carefree as they do" on A Bath Full of Ecstasy while complimenting Zdar and McDonald for enhancing their sound. [21]
Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
GQ (Russia) | The 20 Best Albums of 2019 | — | |
musicOMH | Top 50 Albums of 2019 | 6 | |
Slant Magazine | The 25 Best Albums of 2019 | 11 | |
The Independent | The 50 best albums of 2019 | 16 | |
Popmatters | The 70 Best Albums of 2019 | 16 | |
The Guardian | The 50 best albums of 2019 | 17 | |
Mojo | The 75 Best Albums of 2019 | 31 | |
Q | The 50 best albums of 2019 | 33 | |
Under the Radar | Top 100 Albums of 2019 | 85 | |
Stereogum | Best 2019 Albums So Far (Mid-Year) | 50 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Melody of Love" | 4:18 |
2. | "Spell" | 6:18 |
3. | "Bath Full of Ecstasy" | 4:00 |
4. | "Echo" | 4:40 |
5. | "Hungry Child" | 6:05 |
6. | "Positive" | 5:37 |
7. | "Why Does My Mind" | 4:14 |
8. | "Clear Blue Skies" | 6:45 |
9. | "No God" | 5:38 |
Total length: | 47:35 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
10. | "None of These Things" | 4:05 |
11. | "Spell (Superorganism Remix)" |
Chart (2019) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [33] | 59 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [34] | 105 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [35] | 179 |
French Albums (SNEP) [36] | 142 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [37] | 52 |
Irish Albums (IRMA) [38] | 61 |
Portuguese Albums (AFP) [39] | 38 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [40] | 9 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [41] | 67 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [42] | 48 |
UK Albums (OCC) [43] | 11 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [44] | 13 |
US Top Album Sales (Billboard) [45] | 47 |
US Top Current Album Sales ( Billboard ) [46] | 40 |
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) [47] | 12 |
October is the second studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was released on 12 October 1981 by Island Records, and was produced by Steve Lillywhite. The album was lyrically inspired by the memberships of Bono, the Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. in a Christian group called the Shalom Fellowship, and consequently it contains spiritual and religious themes. Their involvement with Shalom Fellowship led them to question the relationship between the Christian faith and the "rock and roll" lifestyle, and threatened to break up the band.
The Head on the Door is the sixth studio album by English rock band the Cure. It was released on 30 August 1985 by Fiction Records. Preceded by the single "In Between Days" which had reached No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart, The Head on the Door was described by Melody Maker as "a collection of pop songs". With its variety of styles, it allowed the group to reach a wider audience in both Europe and North America. In the United Kingdom it became their most successful album to date, entering the albums chart at No. 7 on 7 September.
Songs from the Big Chair is the second studio album by the English band Tears for Fears, released on 25 February 1985 by Mercury Records, distributed by Phonogram Inc. A follow-up to the band's successful debut album, The Hurting (1983), Songs from the Big Chair was a significant departure from that album's dark, introspective synth-pop, featuring a more mainstream, guitar-based pop rock sound, sophisticated production values and diverse stylistic influences, while Roland Orzabal and Ian Stanley's lyrics displayed socially and politically conscious themes.
1984 is the sixth studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on January 9, 1984. It was the last Van Halen studio album until A Different Kind of Truth (2012) to feature lead singer David Lee Roth, who left the band in 1985 following creative differences. This is the final full-length album to feature all four original members, although they reunited briefly in 2000 to start work on what would much later become 2012's A Different Kind of Truth. Roth returned in 2007, but Eddie's son Wolfgang replaced Anthony in 2006. 1984 and Van Halen's self-titled debut album are the band's best-selling albums, each having sold more than 10 million copies in the United States.
Cassius was a French musical duo active from 1988 to 2019 and consisting of producers Philippe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francard, better known as Zdar and Boombass. Under its different incarnations the duo is likened to the "French touch" movement of electronic music in the second half of the 1990s.
Hot Chip is an English synthpop band formed in London in 2000. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for live performances and studio recordings. The group primarily produces music in the synth-pop and alternative dance genres, drawing influences from house and disco.
The Warning is the second studio album by British band Hot Chip. The album was released in the UK on 22 May 2006 by EMI Records and in the United States on 3 June 2006 by Astralwerks. Notable tracks include the UK singles, "Over and Over" and "Boy from School", as well as "(Just Like We) Breakdown", which was featured and remixed on the DFA Records compilation album The DFA Remixes – Chapter One. The album was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize.
Dreaming Out Loud is the debut studio album by American pop rock band OneRepublic. The album was released on November 20, 2007, by Interscope Records. The album was recorded between 2004 and 2007 and it was produced by Greg Wells, with two songs produced by OneRepublic’s lead singer Ryan Tedder, and was engineered and mixed by Joe Zook. The album followed two years of massive success on Myspace; the band had appeared in Myspace Music's Top Artists since early 2006, with over 28 million total song plays counted.
Made in the Dark is the third studio album by the English indietronica band Hot Chip, released on 4 February 2008 through EMI Records internationally and Astralwerks and DFA Records in the United States. Comprising 13 tracks, a defining feature of the album is the strong presence of romantic ballads. The title ballad was described as "sublime" by one critic, although not all the ballads received universal praise. Alexis Taylor, the main contributor to the lyrics, said he was proud of the album lyrically and felt that feeling of love and happiness, partly the result of his recent marriage, had contributed to the album's romantic tone.
One Life Stand is the fourth studio album by English electronic music band Hot Chip, released digitally on 1 February 2010. The physical album was released in the United Kingdom on 1 February 2010 by Parlophone and in the United States the following week on 9 February 2010 by Astralwerks. The album's lead single from the album, "One Life Stand", was released on 30 November 2009. Vocalist Alexis Taylor described the album as "the most warm and soulful sounding record we've made" and expressed hope that people would also say it was "a soulful quality that ties [the album] together".
English electronic music band Hot Chip have released eight studio albums, eight extended plays, two mix albums, 29 singles, five promotional singles and 24 music videos.
In Our Heads is the fifth studio album by English electronic music band Hot Chip, released on 6 June 2012. It is the band's first album to be released by Domino. It was recorded in a span of five months at English producer Mark Ralph's Club Ralph studio in London. The promotional single "Flutes", for which a video debuted on 15 March 2012, was made available as a free download when pre-ordering the album through Domino. A limited-edition 12-inch vinyl of the song was eventually released on 2 April 2012.
Why Make Sense? is the sixth studio album by English electronic music band Hot Chip. It was released in the United Kingdom on 18 May 2015 via Domino and was co-produced by the band and English record producer Mark Ralph. Similar to their previous album, In Our Heads (2012), it was recorded at Ralph's London studio, Club Ralph, but also at Angelic Studios in Northamptonshire. For vinyl and compact disc copies of Why Make Sense?, the album's cover art has 130,000 variations of its design, which comprises a set of parallel lines intersecting with each other in front of a coloured background. Three official singles were released from the album: "Huarache Lights", "Need You Now", and "Started Right".
Still Brazy is the second studio album by American rapper YG. It was made available for streaming on June 14, 2016, by Apple Music. Later, it was released physically for the digital download purchases on June 17, 2016, by 4Hunnid Records, CTE World and Def Jam Recordings. The album features production handled by Swish, P-Lo, Terrace Martin, Larrance Dopson, CT Beats, Ty Dolla Sign and Hit-Boy, while YG enlisted the collaborators such as Lil Wayne, Drake, Nipsey Hussle and Slim 400, among others.
Oh My My is the fourth studio album by American pop rock band OneRepublic. It was released on October 7, 2016, through Mosley Music Group and Interscope Records, three years after the release of the band's third studio album, Native (2013). Due to Native's success with the tracks "Counting Stars" and "Love Runs Out", Oh My My incorporates some elements of their electronic production. Ryan Tedder, the band's lead singer, songwriter and producer, focused on lyrics about optimism, love, and overcoming past traumas.
Teenage Emotions is the debut studio album by American rapper Lil Yachty. It was released on May 26, 2017, by Capitol Records, Motown, and Quality Control Music. The album features guest appearances from Migos, YG, Kamaiyah, Stefflon Don, Diplo, Grace, and Sonyae Elise, among others.
The Now Now is the sixth studio album recorded by the British virtual band Gorillaz, released on 29 June 2018 via Parlophone and Warner Bros. Records. Recording for the album began in late 2017 – according to Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn, it was recorded quickly so the band would have new material to play at future concerts.
"Hungry Child" is a song by British synth-pop band Hot Chip. It is the fifth track on their seventh studio album, A Bath Full of Ecstasy, and was released as its lead single on 4 April 2019 through Domino Recording Company.
False Alarm is the fourth studio album by Northern Irish indie rock band Two Door Cinema Club, released on 21 June 2019 by Prolifica Inc. and PIAS Recordings. The album was preceded by four singles, "Talk", "Satellite", "Dirty Air" and "Once".
Human is the fifth studio album by American pop rock band OneRepublic. It was released through Mosley Music Group and Interscope Records on August 27, 2021, nearly five years after their fourth album Oh My My (2016). After the health issues that affected the band's lead singer, songwriter and producer Ryan Tedder, OneRepublic decided to work on a standalone singles strategy to promote the album. With that, Human deals with lyrical themes surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as life and the connectivity between humanity and nature.