Hot Chip have always been a band that’s looked forward, pushing the innovative boundaries of both pop and electronic music with a futuristic mindset. But today (August 7) the celebrated project looks back, albeit with skeptical apprehension, via a chilled-out new single called “Fire of Mercy.”
In collaboration with Malaysian-Irish producer and songwriter Yunè Pinku, “Fire of Mercy” is a rich and thoughtful piece of music soaked in ennui-flecked euphoria, and acts as the follow-up to last summer’s Freakout/Release album. And it’s got the ghosts of William Blake coursing through it.
“’Fire of Mercy’ relates to the central concept of William Blake’s ‘Songs of Experience’ — it bemoans the corruption that inevitably comes from adulthood and longs for a return to the purity of childhood,” says Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard.
While Pinku adds: “Massive honour to work with Hot Chip as they’re huge legends within the electronic world. When they played me ‘Fire of Mercy’ and asked me to jump on the track, I was thrilled to work with them.”