Yesterday afternoon Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip captivated a packed out audience at a small room at the Manhattan Inn to debut material off his upcoming new album Await Barbarians (out via Domino Records on June 10). Check out first single “Elvis Has Left The Building” now.
Taylor was joined by Hot Chip drummer Sarah Jones and pedal steel guitarist Jonny Lam to play through the album. To my surprise, the material has a heavy country/americana influence to it, with some traces of Taylor’s electronic expertise worked in as well. The songs were perfectly suited for a Sunday matinee listen, somewhat hazy and laid back. In fact, they only rehearsed for the performance yesterday morning (hungover as Taylor playfully admitted), but you would have never known if he never said anything. If the show was rough around the edges (I couldn’t tell), and if anything, it helped give the show a more raw and true feeling.
It was an astonishing thing to take in the huddled room of Manhattan Inn, that couldn’t have been filled than more than 75-100 people, if even that. It was truly an intimate moment shared with Taylor, who worked in a cover of “Tracks Of My Tears” along with Hot Chip’s “Made In The Dark” and “Look At Where We Are” (find a video of the latter two posted below).
I’m excited to take in the full album and let it play out in similar fashion on easy going weekend days.
Find more photos of the performance posted below along with the video clip.
Alexis Taylor – Made In The Dark/Look At Where We Are (Hot Chip)
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