Spoon – Hot Thoughts (HOT)


This week, we have a spring-ready and guitar heavy release schedule, with new albums tomorrow from Spoon and Real Estate.
Spoon’s ninth studio album Hot Thoughts will be released on Matador Records for the first time since the tenured band’s first record in 1996, and “Hot Thoughts” the single has already found its way to the top of Billboard’s Adult Alternative songs chart. The band has officially released one more single, “Can I Sit Next to You?” which retains Spoon’s signature catchy guitar sound. Britt Daniels’ airily harsh vocals perfectly accompany the band’s newfound appreciation for strings. They also premiered another song, “I Ain’t the One,” but that won’t be released before the album tomorrow.
Real Estate, by comparison, has just finished riding the success wave from their last album, Atlas, which showed the cementation of a signature beach rock sound, complete with complex guitar riffs and smooth, light vocals. Their new LP, In Mind, comes out tomorrow via Domino Records. It’s the band’s first album since the departure of guitarist Matt Monandile, who left to pursue Ducktails, his other project (who is also rumored to have an album coming out later this year). The first single off of In Mind, “Darling,” starts off with dreamy synths before a catchy, upbeat guitar lick carries the tune into an unlikely rhythm. The syncopation is especially remarkable and it’s clear that Real Estate, despite their laid-back sound, have been hard at work writing new music. The second single, “Stained Glass,” was released in an especially creative way. The band posted sheet music on Instagram, encouraging audience members to attempt to guess the way the song would sound. Real Estate posted videos of fans playing the riff all over social media, and the song was released March 7. Consequence of Sound gave In Mind a “B,” but expect this record to be on repeat well into the summertime.
– David Colton

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