The hotly (no pun intended) anticipated third album from feel-good electropoppers Hot Chip starts dramatically with a rousing, expectant crescendo of an almost bagpipe-inspired drone, before snapping into a frantically inviting disco beat. Sadly, though, the rest of the album fails to live up to this promising intro, and falls disappointingly flat by comparison. Lacking the jovial infectious bounce of the excellent previous album, The Warning, Made in the Dark is a somewhat stilted combination of formulaic knob-twiddling electro and almost boy-bandish sentimental ballads, with the odd bit of indie guitar rock thrown in for good measure.

The current single Ready for the Floor bounces along inoffensively enough, in a frothy chewing-gum-for-the-ears sort of way, but fails to ever really get going. The album as a whole suffers from gratuitous use of synthy sound effects, and repetitive melodies that quickly become tiresome. Even the occasional stand-out catchy moment, such as Hold On - a funkier, more danceable track - shoots itself in the foot by dragging on for over six minutes.

Neither entirely upbeat enough for the dancefloor, nor interesting enough to just sit and listen to, Made In the Dark might possibly make half-decent driving music, but fails to hang together as an album. Instead of sticking to what they do best, Hot Chip have over-complicated things with an excess of 'noises' and influences, perhaps in an attempt to conceal what is essentially rather sparse raw material. Whilst this experimental ambition is admirable, it ends up feeling more like wanton self-indulgence, especially when you know they are capable of so much more.