- What would Chris Lowe sound like without Neil Tennant? Dave Stewart without Annie Lennox? Vince Clarke without Alison Moyet/Feargal Sharkey/Andy Bell? Perhaps that last one is a bit of a cheat, because we know what those vocalists did by bringing their unique contribution to the clever musical hooks that Clarke dreamed up in his studio. The contemporary dance/pop scene is a place where creators like Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard aren’t confined to one project at any one time and can branch out exploring side roads and byways; such as Electric Lines, his first full length release outside of Hot Chip. It comes with all the craft you’ve come to admire in Hot Chip’s releases.

First up, Ordinary Madness with vocals from Jess Mills is just perfect – a sultry mid-tempo ballad that seduces you;:her light, cooing styling has some echoes of Sia Furler and that makes this opening track as up to the minute as you can get. Then, Lose Your Love has superb echoes of the glory days of 1970's disco – a bit of vocoder here, female, high harmonies there. Before you can get lost in that reverie, Michiganian Daniel Wilson is welded to a very groovy house beat on Home which would do Arthur Baker proud.

Goddard isn’t afraid to mix styles, so approach Electric Lines like an all you can eat buffet with some surprising juxtapositions, such as Lasers which does what it says on the label. It’s all synths and drum machines, but in that early Gary Numan style from the late '70s. Goddard drops a few vocal lines himself, sometimes deeply obscured by his production, such as on the spacey Children and Hot Chip co-front man Alexis Taylor contributes to the title track, which is like Hot Chip, but, then again, not.

It’s pleasing to hear an album that does traverse a lot of territory without sounding like it’s an explosion in an autoshop’s spare parts storeroom. Toward the end of the album Jess Mills returns with the (fairly obvious) message that Music Is The Answer, which will help anyone suffering from a cri de couer in the wee hours, “Music is the answer/to your problems/keep on moving/then you can solve them.” AMEN!

- Blair Martin.