Spoon Share Hot Thoughts Details, Title Track

After a bit of speculation last week, Spoon have made their ninth studio LP, Hot Thoughts, officially official with the release of its title track.

In terms of analogues for “Hot Thoughts,” 2009’s “Well-Alright” for the Dark Was the Night compilation probably comes the closest. “Hot Thoughts” is a well-crafted, expertly paced bit of electro-rock from the subtly experimental indie-rock group. (Anyone who has been keeping close tabs on the band shouldn’t be surprised by such descriptors.) The digital bits of the track are there, just on the margins.

The opening wisps of strings certainly scan as processed and Britt Daniel, singing of the “hot thoughts” forever occupying his mind, sounds like he’s being vocally manipulated in the opening. Jim Eno appears to be trading between a drum machine and an actual kit, but he’s so robotic when it comes to staying in the pocket, it’s nigh impossible to tell if he’s even switching at all, which is an almost-perfect dilemma to have when hearing “Hot Thoughts.” An understated through-line of the song, and of much of Spoon’s career, is how much everything that surrounds us can blend together until discernment becomes difficult. Those New York kisses, hot thoughts and linger ghosts seem to be real, but are they really?