Hot Chip are coming back to Dublin, and they're bringing the noise. The A Long Way From Kansas tour hits 3Olympia Theatre on Thursday 4th March 2027, and if the band's own description of the new record is anything to go by, the old place will be rattling like a biscuit tin in a tumble dryer.
The album, their ninth, is out on 8th January 2027. The title borrows from The Wizard of Oz: Dorothy, her dog and the long road home. This time the five of them went looking for grit. "Distortion came to be a bit of a watchword for the whole record," says Alexis Taylor. Most bands mellow with age; Hot Chip, together since 2000, simply got louder.
First out of the traps is "Random Violence", a tribute to their old friend Keith McIvor, aka JD Twitch of Glasgow's Optimo, who passed away in September last year. Joe Goddard says many of the words come from memories of Sub Club, where they met 20 years ago. The video, directed by Jack Cole, brings in Boss Morris, the all-female progressive morris dancing side.
Elsewhere on the record, Beth Ditto and Eddie Chacon add their voices, and Felix Martin sings on a Hot Chip album for the first time. Gas of a year all round, too: the Grammy-nominated band turned up in the second season of Netflix's Beef, playing live alongside Oscar Isaac no less, and marked 20 years of The Warning. Fair play.
Tickets €48.20 / €53.85 (including booking fees and venue restoration fee) go on sale Friday 23rd October at 10am from Ticketmaster.ie. Bookings are subject to a 12.5% service charge per ticket (max €10.50). MCD presale: Wednesday 21st October at 10am from your MyMCD account at mcd.ie/mymcd.