PHOTO: Fiona Garden
Hot Chip ready album nine, A Long Way From Kansas
London synth-pop institution Hot Chip have announced details of their ninth album, A Long Way From Kansas, and shared a tribute to Optimo's Keith McIvor: the lead single "Random Violence".
The track is the first to be shared from the record. Its video features the all-female progressive morris dancing group called Boss Morris. Hot Chip will DJ at Glasgow's Sub Club on 21 October to mark the announcement and honour McIvor's legacy. The Scottish DJ, producer, and labelhead also known as DJ Twitch died at age 57 of a brain tumour last September in Glasgow.
Joe Goddard said McIvor “largely inspired the words of the song” and that many of the lyrics relate directly to his death and to memories of Sub Club, where the band met him 20 years ago.
Al Doyle said: “The genesis of the idea came from the Optimo Espookio Halloween parties we experienced at Sub Club and we wanted to capture that feeling in the video.”
Recorded at Goddard and Doyle's East London studio, A Long Way From Kansas includes guest vocals from Beth Ditto and Eddie Chacon, with band members Felix Martin singing on a Hot Chip record for the first time. Taylor said the album reflects a discordant world without making every song explicitly political.
The band have confirmed a UK and European tour for 2027, including London's Exhibition White City on 12 March. The album follows Hot Chip's appearance in the second season of the Netflix show Beef and the 20th anniversary of their second album, The Warning.
A Long Way From Kansas artwork
A Long Way From Kansas tracklist
"Stuck Around"
"Waiting Around"
"Random Violence"
"The Mask Is Slipping"
"Splinter"
"Shortcut To Love"
"Me In Your Head (feat. Beth Ditto)"
"Hook Me Up"
"Secular Hymns"
"The Garden (feat. Eddie Chacon)"
"Crushing"
A Long Way From Kansas is released on 8 January 2027
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