"Hot Thoughts" is the bravest, most sonically inventive work of Spoon's career. With all due respect to earlier efforts that have made the quintet both critically acclaimed and a commercial contender, preconceptions about this band are about to be obliterated. That's not to say "Hot Thoughts" doesn't have a requisite supply of infectious earworms but there's a lyrical bent that's as carnal as it's crafty, and a newfound sense of sonic exploration that results in the genresmasher Spoon have flirted with in the past but not fully consummated.

"They Want My Soul" is Spoon’s most straight-up, direct and concise rock album ever; a certain “return to form” as a straight up American rock band, and a restoration of Spoon’s trademark authority, confidence and swagger. The music runs a gamut from AC/DC-esque guitar-driven songs like the opener “Rent I Pay” to stunning cosmic space disco tracks like “Outlier” to delicately pensive album standout “Inside Out”.

Moon flips Lucifer on the Sofa’s rhythm tracks inside-out, and often rebuilds them wholesale. Sherwood supplied extensive additional instrumentation via ON-U’s extended family of session players, including bassist Doug Wimbish and drummer Keith LeBlanc (both of whom performed in Sugarhill Records’ early ’80s in-house rhythm section). He dug deep into the album’s multi-tracks, surfacing forgotten details and elements not present in the final album mixes.