Hot Thoughts

Spoon - Hot Thoughts
Critic Score
Based on 37 reviews
2017 Ratings: #180 / 940
Year End Rank: #40
User Score
Based on 471 ratings
2017 Rank: #315
Liked by 26 people
March 17, 2017 / Release Date
LP / Format
Matador / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Guardian

Hot Thoughts is loaded with tunes, invention and adventure.

91
Consequence of Sound

Every song bursts out of its box with dizzying Technicolor touches and unexpected noises or inside-out harmonies.

91
Entertainment Weekly

Inspired in part by a newly streamlined lineup, this 10-song collection is dominated less by taut rhythm guitar than by synths, handclaps, and kickdrums. 

91
Pretty Much Amazing

Put every Spoon moment, every song, every riff, every Britt Daniels howl and whisper into a blender and you have Hot Thoughts ... Hot Thoughts is another top tier indie rock record from the most consistent band in the game.

89
Paste

Hot Thoughts is crisp, arch and flowing, proving Spoon to be among Bowie’s most astute heirs in spirit.

87
GIGsoup

Spoon's ‘Hot Thoughts’ is an album brimming with confidence, deep introspection, sonic symphonies, and multi-genre artistry. It is an album that draws upon many influences, including some of their very own.

82
Sputnikmusic

Hot Thoughts continues to tinker with a sound that long ago proved perfectly unique, yet the band is still able to somehow find something novel in past works.

80
Drowned in Sound

Rarely does a band this far into its career, with such an established and celebrated sound, pull off a risk as well as this. The familiar intelligence of Daniel’s songwriting remains intact, and the band around him sound completely revitalised by the new approach.

80
Northern Transmissions

Daring, experimental but also, undeniably pop – ‘Hot Thoughts’ is the sound of a band enjoying some artistic freedom that’s been granted after over 24 years of being on the musical map.

80
God Is in the TV

Once again, Spoon stir up an appetising cocktail of rock, pop, dance and anthemic floor-fillers ... Cracking stuff.

80
Uncut

Hot Thoughts finds Spoon at the peak of their considerable powers, their ninth album effortlessly unfolding and gradually revealing its mysteries as they cement their place in the firmament of undeniably great rock bands.

80
Exclaim!

Adding some new tricks to the mix while still finding time to play to their strengths, Hot Thoughts is another strong entry in Spoon's sterling discography.

80
The Skinny

Hot Thoughts is the perfect encapsulation of what Spoon are all about, despite frequently sounding like nothing they've ever done.

80
PopMatters

The album strikes almost the perfect balance between traditional songs and adventurous sounds, which makes it stand out in Spoon’s extensive catalog of great albums.

80
AllMusic

One of their strongest albums in a while, Hot Thoughts is more proof that Spoon only get better at introducing new ideas into their music, while sounding unmistakably like themselves, as the years pass.

80
The 405

Hot Thoughts doubles down on what we already knew: that Spoon are a band always looking to push themselves, a fact that seems to be getting more acute with each passing album, and it should be celebrated.

80
Rolling Stone

No one engineers post-punk propulsion into precision-tuned rock-and-roll melody better than Spoon auteur Britt Daniel. Nearly 25 years in, his group has made maybe their best record yet – a line that been repeated, accurately enough, with most every record they've made.

80
No Ripcord

The whole record is crafted with an air of distrust, but its execution is surgically precise. Spoon’s stream of critical acclaim shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.

75
The Line of Best Fit

Hot Thoughts provides no catharsis; the tension that pervades the record is never relieved. Instead, you’re left feeling nervous and covered in studio sheen. Hot Thoughts, therefore, may go down as the band’s most polarizing effort - but that was likely the goal: a buildup of anxiety with no release in order to evoke an emotional response.

74
Pitchfork

Spoon stay in their well-earned lane but tweak the formula just enough on their ninth album, keeping their reliably great songwriting and adding new, electronic textures.

70
The Needle Drop
Spoon incorporates some strange experiments into their slick indie rock sound.
65
Under the Radar

Hot Thoughts is no game-changer, and the band risks sounding as safe as Coldplay at times ... Sometimes taking a risk for pop can sound like no risk at all, especially with a band that sounds as effortless as Spoon.

60
NME

Not many bands can make dogged experimentalism easy for consumption, but Spoon are experts in the game. ‘Hot Thoughts’ is more evidence of their serious knack for, ahem, spoon-feeding weird ideas.

60
The Independent

Supported at home by a college radio and alt.rock infrastructure, their smart, riff-tastic indie-rock, with its modest quotient of invention, clearly sates a certain appetite; over here, it all sounds a bit dated and beside the point.

60
DIY

A planned dalliance, ‘Hot Thoughts’ reveals its irony: a well-thought rush of blood, a planned frisson. It’s a turn on with limits.

60
Slant Magazine

Hot Thoughts is often at its most appealing, though, when it sees Spoon sticking to what they've long proven they know how to do best.

58
A.V. Club

Hot Thoughts, the band’s ninth full-length, sounds like a Spoon impersonation. Layers of overthought production and tiny tricks that made the evolution of its songs such a feat in the pop division of indie rock are difficult to dig out because they weren’t placed here to begin with.

ElectricMess
70

tl;dr: i like it

It says a lot about Spoon and their frightening consistency that Hot Thoughts is my least favorite of theirs from what I’ve heard. If you asked me to name an album that’s exactly “pretty good,” chances are this would be one of the first that comes to mind. Tight grooves, some really fun indie rock singles, just with the occasional experiment that doesn’t pan out in an exciting way.

Plats
81

"Hot Thoughts" goes for quirkier experiments and the payoff is really solid, albeit all over the place. The instrumentation is solid, there are some great hooks, the writing is sharp and the overall aesthetic makes this a very fun Spoon album.

Fav Tracks: Hot Thoughts, Can I Sit Next to You, Shotgun, WhisperI'lllistentohearit, I Ain't the One, Do I Have to Talk You Into It

Least Fav Track: Pink Up

Score:
8.1
Great

winitheju
71

I don't think Spoon has ever really made a bad record. The trend continues here

mnartriam
70

Drop in quality compared to the last 4, but still pretty good

80

"Us" enjoyers rise up

KadeCaptain
80

Don't know how I found this but Im glad I did. Production, vocals and lyrics are all great with each track flowing into one another smoothly. The album cover reflects the album perfectly, an chaotic but calm experience resembling something familiar while also being different. It's hard to say it in words but thats what it feels like. Both the intro and the outro are great and help set a complete vibe for the song with a head bopping start to a calm and spiritual ending.

BEST SONGS: Hot ... read more

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Added on: January 10, 2017