Hot Chip cools down

After their 2005 debut dabbled in all sorts of genres — including soul and R&B — and included lines about 20-inch rims, Hot Chip has spent their last two releases subtly maturing. And their latest, “One Life Stand,” feels like the culmination of that maturation process. It’s more lush, less dance-orientated and also softer lyrically. 

Though “One Life” does miss the stand-out mover like “Ready for the Floor,” it feels more consistent and complete throughout, as Alexis Taylor whines that “I only want to be your one life stand” on the title track and ponders “Why can’t I be bright like the lover’s light” on the piano-powered “Hand Me Down Your Love.”

There are still groovers on here like “Take It In,” “We Have Love”and “I Feel Better,” but even those still feel somehow detached from past pulsators.

So really, it comes down to personal preference. Is it all about the quirky, thumping but sometimes uneven Hot Chip of “Made in the Dark” or the romanticized, mature but consistent Hot Chip of “One Life Stand?”

Either way, we win.