Hot Chip Return to the Stage in New York

After taking a year off from playing live, Hot Chip returned in grand fashion last night, playing an unofficial album release show at New York's Highline Ballroom. Billed as a part of the "MySpace Secret Show" series, the band debuted a number of tracks from their forthcoming release, 'One Life Stand,' and mixed in numerous favorites from their back catalog.

Hot Chip shows are notoriously sweaty affairs, but the question was: would they be able to keep up the energy they're know for with the new material? For those that have heard the new album, the cuts aren't as inspired by "the club" as earlier material -- and when they played 'Alley Cats' and the soulful 'Slush,' there was indeed a noticeable lack of deep, hard thumping.

But that's not to say they've lost anything; songs like 'Thieves in the Night' and 'Hand Me Down Your Love' rely more on textural layering than anything immediate, but we know from songs like 'Over and Over,' Hot Chip is quite adept at fleshing out crescendos, and the new tunes often build on that theory. And that was quite apparent of the new material; the tempos are a bit faster, which continues on the grand tradition of what everyone at a Hot Chip show comes to expect: dancing!

The highlight of the evening came towards the end of the hour long set, when they segued 'One Life Stand' into massive crowd favorite 'Over and Over,' followed by another seamless segue of the Depeche Mode-ish 'We Have Love' into 'Hold On.' Really, if it wasn't for the need for things such as water, or to remove clothing, their sets could (and should) never stop.

Hot Chip are set to embark on a U.K. tour next week and will return to the U.S. in April for a string of shows, including a stop at Coachella and several gigs with the XX. And there's always hope that a live album will pan out soon.

Hot Chip on AOL Music