Hot Hot Heat mixes it up on new album

In the midst of all the Kanye vs. 50 Cent drama, it may be easy to forget that other albums were released this past Tuesday — and not just the latest from Kenny Chesney.

Hot Hot Heat released its third LP, Happiness LTD, on Tuesday.

The album has a distinctly different feel than the group’s past two offerings, Make Up the Breakdown and Elevator, but bassist Dustin Hawthorne told me Monday that that perception is no fluke.

“We took a different approach,” Hawthorne said.

Recording at home in Vancouver, the group worked with a trio of producers including Butch Walker, Rob Cavallo and Tim Palmer, and a group of four mixing engineers.

“It’s just a mishmash of different people,” Hawthorne said. “It’s definitely the weirdest thing we’ve ever done.”

But Hawthorne said he and his bandmates were definitely pleased with the results.

“I think it’s kind of cool. It’s not so necessarily cohesive,” he said. “Everybody uses different microphones, producers have different sounds.”

Working with so many different producers had some additional benefits for Hawthorne, who said he wants to record other bands someday.

“I always enjoy the studio time,” he said. “I’m always keenly interested as to what’s going on and trying to learn as much as possible.”

Next up for Hot Hot Heat is two straight months of extensive touring, though the closest they’re coming to N.C. is a show in Atlanta in mid-October. You can catch the group on Jimmy Kimmel Live tomorrow, Sept. 14.