Between Hot Chip, The 2 Bears and some meaty solo enterprises, Joe Goddard has put his stamp on a hefty Venn diagram of scenes. Electric Lines is a chance for Goddard to bridge the various sides he has been associated with into a cohesive narrative. What's interesting about this approach is that the sum of the parts doesn't quite add up.
Goddard is a dab hand at the kind of introspective electropop that Hot Chip have made merry with so there are some familiar shades to Ordinary Madness and especially the title track, cowritten with bandmate Alexis Taylor. What don't quite hit the target with the same vigour are tracks such as Truth Is Light and Lose You Love, which lean on house and disco yet don't quite amount to anything you could hang your hat on.
Home, though, is a winner, Goddard and vocalist Daniel Wilson using the latter's lovely vocals and some beautifully structured samples to create a moment of verve and gentle euphoria.
