Joy in Repetition is an aptly wry title for Hot Chip’s career-spanning retrospective, one that underscores both the band’s sly sense of humor and their deep respect for pop tradition. In an era when best-of compilations feel increasingly obsolete overshadowed by algorithmic playlists and infinite back catalogs Hot Chip manage to justify the format with a carefully sequenced collection that doubles as both a celebration and a reintroduction.

The reference point in the title is twofold. On one hand, it nods to “Over and Over,” their 2005 breakthrough single whose hypnotic chorus embodies the looped pleasures of dance music. On the other, it tips its hat to Prince, a playful theft that aligns neatly with the group’s ethos: irreverent, affectionate, and grounded in the idea that pop is always about borrowing and reshaping. The result is less a museum piece than a living document of a band still thriving within their own paradoxes detached yet tender, winking yet sincere.

What emerges across the set is Hot Chip’s remarkable consistency. Few bands that traffic in irony manage to sound so emotionally open. The deadpan delivery of Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard often masks songs that brim with melancholy or warmth, a tension that has defined their best work from The Warning through A Bath Full of Ecstasy. Joy in Repetition strings those moments together into something cohesive, revealing just how steady their output has been across two decades.

If the collection risks redundancy for longtime fans, it still succeeds as an accessible entry point for newcomers, distilling Hot Chip’s catalog into its most essential beats. More importantly, it affirms the band’s peculiar alchemy: songs that make you laugh, ache, and dance all at once, all in repetition.