I first stumbled across Spoon when their album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga came out. Spoon is one of those few bands where there is hardly a song from them I don't like. I love listening to an album and not having to reach for the "skip" button. Spoon is also a band that in my opinion has evolved their sound successfully with each new album. In Hot Thoughts there are a lot of sounds that haven't been in their previous albums (see songs "Pink Up" & "Us"). They continue to impress with catchy melodies and their unique songwriting.
After a 20-year career, it's natural for a band to make music that encapsulates all the territory they've covered during that time. For Spoon, that means bringing the present and the past together in dynamic ways. Hot Thoughts finds them returning to Matador, the label that released their debut album Telephono back in 1996, but it also features co-production by Dave Fridmann, who helped give They Want My Soul an extra sparkle. As on that album, Spoon creates an exquisite tension between lush sounds and taut rhythms: The dance-rock of "Hot Thoughts" swirls as much as it swaggers. Elsewhere, the stripped-back arrangement and amped-up emotions on "I Ain't the One" reaffirm that Spoon's balancing act only grows more compelling with time. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi