Hot Thoughts
by Spoon
  • Record Label: Matador
  • Release Date: Mar 17, 2017
Metascore
82

Universal acclaim - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
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  1. DIY Magazine
    Mar 17, 2017
    60
    A planned dalliance, Hot Thoughts reveals its irony: a well-thought rush of blood, a planned frisson. It’s a turn on with limits.
  2. New Musical Express (NME)
    Mar 16, 2017
    60
    It doesn’t always work, not least in ‘Shotgun’’s iffy mix of Nashville-ready instrumentals and a chugging house beat. On the flipside, ‘Do I Have To Talk You Into It’ sticks so stubbornly to the Spoon template it could be a discarded number from any of their previous records.
  3. The Independent (UK)
    Mar 15, 2017
    60
    Not bad, but not brilliant.
  5. Slant Magazine
    Mar 13, 2017
    60
    Hot Thoughts is often at its most appealing, though, when it sees Spoon sticking to what they've long proven they know how to do best. That's not universally the case: The album's only straight-ahead garage rocker, the thudding “Shotgun,” is so uncharacteristically regressive and lunkheaded that it might as well be a Kings of Leon song.
  6. Mojo
    Mar 3, 2017
    60
    The main feeling it provokes is sincere admiration at a job well done, but a raised pulse, unfortunately, is something Spoon can't craft from scratch. [Apr 2017, p.96]
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  7. The A.V. Club
    Mar 17, 2017
    58
    Spoon is a master of hooky songwriting, but Hot Thoughts seems so bent on undermining it that the band undersells itself. Maybe Hot Thoughts is an apt title after all--it’s got great ideas, but the execution is lacking.

Awards & Rankings

92
#92 Most Discussed Album of 2017
8
#8 Most Shared Album of 2017

User Reviews

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User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 94 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 84 out of 94
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 94
  3. Negative: 6 out of 94
  1. Paulo_Jorge
    Mar 17, 2017
    9
    I hate when guys like Mojo, A.V. Club and DIY Magazine f*ck up some great albums. This is Spoon's finest and more experimental album since GaI hate when guys like Mojo, A.V. Club and DIY Magazine f*ck up some great albums. This is Spoon's finest and more experimental album since Ga Ga Ga Ga, which released a decade ago. Despite They Want My Soul being catchier than it, Hot Thoughts exceeds expectations in songs like "WhisperIlllistentohearit", "Pink Up" and "Us" Spoon adventures through different sounds but maintaining their identity as well.

    Hot Thoughts it's not a masterpiece, it's maybe the 3rd or 4th best album in Spoon's carreer, but it still one of the best indie rock albums I've head in a long time, as always, Spoon is maintaining their solid carreer with another solid album.    … Full Review »
  2. PaulAndrews
    Mar 17, 2017
    10
    Spoon just keeps getting better and better! Standout tracks aside (and they're phenomenal), it's the un-typical Spoon tracks that get me. AndSpoon just keeps getting better and better! Standout tracks aside (and they're phenomenal), it's the un-typical Spoon tracks that get me. And also, the last track IS NOT a weak Radiohead ripoff (cough cough, Mappes' terrible review and harbinger of Pitchfork's long-foreseen demise) it's bloody beautiful Britt & co.
    And btw, what's with the "small stakes" refs all over the place for this album? Spoon has been life-and-death stakes since Kill the Moonlight! Don't read reviews, go to shows. See Britt jump. Jump Britt. Jump.    … Full Review »
  3. buzzlight
    Mar 17, 2017
    9
    This is a beautiful and dark album. The song I Ain't The One is my favorite in the mix, moody and sad but sticks like glue. The drum beatsThis is a beautiful and dark album. The song I Ain't The One is my favorite in the mix, moody and sad but sticks like glue. The drum beats and keyboard sound vintage goth or new wave, but with a dose of funk. No doubt stand outs are Hot Thoughts, WhisperI'lllistentohearit,, Do I Have to Talk You Into It and Can I Sit Next to You. Songs Pink Up and Us offer up tranquil mostly instrumental pleasures never heard before on Spoon albums. I believe Alex Fischel and Dave Fridmann at really contributing to these new sounds. Thank you Britt and Spoon for keeping it fresh and glorious, every album. Listen to this album at night, sitting in the rain with the Northern Lights on the horizon.… Full Review »
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