Hot Chip announce new album “A Long Way From Kansas”, share “Random Violence”

Hot Chip will release their new album, “A Long Way From Kansas”, on 8 January 2027, according to Clash. Alongside the announcement, the British band shared the single “Random Violence”, a tribute to Keith McIvor of Glasgow's Optimo, a close friend of the group.

The album takes its title from Dorothy's line in “The Wizard of Oz”. Singer Alexis Taylor says the record reflects a world he sees as harsh, discordant and violent, an unavoidable backdrop while the band was making it, and that distortion became “a bit of a watchword” for the whole record. The 11-track album opens with “Stuck Around” and features two guests: Beth Ditto on “Me In Your Head” and Eddie Chacon on “The Garden”.

Joe Goddard explains that McIvor died in September 2025, a few months after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. Many of the song's words relate to his death and to memories of Sub Club in Glasgow, where they met 20 years ago. The video, directed by Jack Cole, features the all-female progressive morris dancing side Boss Morris. Al Doyle says the idea came from the Optimo Espookio Halloween parties at Sub Club, adding that the band had “an absolute blast” filming it.

Hot Chip formed in London in 2000 and are known for their electronic and synth-pop sound. Their most recent studio album, according to MusicBrainz, is “Freakout/Release” from 2022, and earlier in 2026 the band marked 20 years of their album “The Warning”.