At The Hotspot affirms Warmduscher's position at the cutting edge of experimental dance music

At The Hotspot comes just over two years after the somewhat grittier Tainted Lunch gained the London-based group widespread acclaim and, in many ways, put them on the map. For their fourth effort, Warmduscher have perfected a slightly more refined musical consistency: having seemingly settled on a smoother blend of hip-hop, funk, and soul.

The record’s fusion of sounds makes At The Hotspot feel incredibly at home in the post-genre landscape. Complete with its introductory nursery rhyme, the album is as diverse as anything you’ll hear this year. While funky beats account for much of the record’s sound, the range of influences ensure it remains an album that has originality at its heart.

The lyrics act as an ode to an imaginary night club, dubbed The Hotspot. Playful narration describes the bar throughout the record: “You might find pain / you might find joy / you will find whatever in the Hotspot” says the song’s protagonist on “Live At The Hotspot” while the infectious “Wild Flowers” suggests the venue is a place one ends up after deciding to “Fuck it all”.

At The Hotspot’s party vibe pins down the bulk of the album’s sound. Tracks like the funky “Baby Tow Joe” and the dance-infused “Fatso” point to the record’s innate ability to provoke, at the very least, a head bop or two. The bouncing electronic beats on “Twisting In The Kitchen” and the energetic “Double Vision” meanwhile, are the best examples of Warmduscher’s drive to provide a plethora of exciting and unconventional, yet very listenable, sounds. The result is an LP that offers the same undeniable enjoyment that the aforementioned fictional late-night bar does.

While the record’s danceable nature gives it its alluring quality, it also leaves it, at times, a little bogged down. “Greasin Up Jesus”, for example starts well with its progressive, chilled out electronic rhythms but becomes lost around half way through its six minute runtime. Similarly, “Eight Minute Machine” seems to lack a real direction and feels slightly out of place in the mix.

Fundamentally though, At The Hotspot succeeds in both driving the band’s sound forward, and in reaffirming the group as key players in today’s indie scene. The record’s diverse and inventive nature suggests Warmduscher are at the peak of their creativity, and not about to stop.