TV on the Radio - Dear Science, Review

Posted by James Palm on 09.26.2008

After taking us on a life-changing journey with their unclassifiable masterpiece Return to Cookie Mountain, Brooklyn's finest have returned from the peak with some questions on life itself. Oh, and the comma in the title is supposed to be there.

A few years back, the term ‘indie’ was often murmured, not declared in reference to a band’s musical styling. The genre was becoming bloated with soulless Death Cab-clones, ennui and indifference now a weapon of angst, rather than intelligent commentary. In 2006, Brooklyn-based TV on the Radio released Return to Cookie Mountain and raised the bar they effectively set for themselves with their stunning debut Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes. A psychedelic fury of soul and acid jazz, their unmistakable sound had them jumping out from the pack and breathing new life into the genre. Both trend-setting and risk-taking, the variety on ...Cookie Mountain also eventuated in a popular single, exposing them to a wider audience. After an animalistic journey, the band now has some questions for science.

Dear Science, is a deeply mature album. While this sounds extraneous to say about an album produced by several adult humans, the general vibe is one of examination; both inward and outward. Childish naivety can creep into any piece of art, but here the problems of the wider world are encapsulated and played out to a soundtrack that crosses boundaries. Their earlier work, though ground-breaking, was privy to indie’s bad habit of neo-gothic romance. This proverbial letter of an album deals with subject matter overdone yet interesting, primarily war and decaying society. The former especially is referenced countless times throughout the album, none more blatantly than the opening line of “Red Dress” - ”Hey Jackboot!/Fuck your war/Cause I’m fat and in love/And the bombs are falling on me for sure”.

Though this line may appear to contradict the maturity angle, the song itself is one of many tripped-out grooves that show TVOTR losing their trepidation and revelling in their grandeur. Without trying to sound offensive – and believe me, that’s difficult - Dear Science, has the band embracing styles borne of their own culture. Having grown tired of improving the white man’s formula for brooding indie rock, funk and hip-hop now take a larger role in the soundscape. The aforementioned “Red Dress” is supported by an impressive horns section, as well as the classic electric organ coating the spiteful lyric with a sense of exuberance, while “Dancing Choose” borders on UK grime; Tunde Adebimpe’s rapping surprisingly suited to the distorted bass and tight snares.

Fusion as always been their main weapon, though, and the album’s dizzying highs arrive when everything comes together. Song of the year contender “Crying” starts in typical TVOTR fashion; the rhythm section laying the groundwork before the trademark vocals sooth our soul. The song gets memorable around the time someone amongst the sea of musicians whips out another funky lick, and becomes captivating by the rousing peak of various instruments building in the background throughout. Adebimpe subtly shifts from whispers to wails, carrying the crescendo with his golden timbre. He performs a similar feat on “Shout Me Out”, another slow-build yet a rockier track with the most furious guitars on the album and more than a hint of Peter Gabriel.

TVOTR have never been strangers to experimentation, and their further evolution has produced some surprising moments. Of all the artists to be channeled on Dear Science,, the distinctive strains of Michael Jackson seem rare and unusual, especially given the band’s Bowie admiration. But sure enough, they resonate throughout “Golden Age”, by turns an 80’s Jackson classic and an acid jazz hip-swinger. This track doubles as a likely single and the closest philosophical link to the album title, cleverly heralding ”The age of miracles/The age of sound/Well there’s a golden age/Coming ‘round”, but deviously increasing the menace in the lyric with each verse - ” Give it up/'stead of grabbin’ for decay/What we viewed as gold/I believe pollutes this space”. Only here could “disaster” and “ghetto blaster” rhyme with such insincerity.

The band has a tendency to improve not just upon their own formula, but those of their contemporaries. As Coldplay attempted to shift into ‘epic’ soft rock territory this year with a heavier reliance on superfluous composition, “Family Tree” achieves more poignancy with a similar sound in just one song. The vocal harmonies between Adebimpe and Kyp Malone yet again lend an awe-inspiring feeling to the material; “Stork and Owl” and “Love Dog” amongst them, while the pinnacle is saved for the closer. “Lover’s Day” is an apocalypse-sized love story, our protagonists prepared to tear down their surrounding neighbourhood just to be together. Like a play’s closing medley, this track combines all the vastness of Dear Science, as flutes and saxes join in the rousing climax.

The Hit - Crying
The Encore - Shout Me Out/Lover's Day
The Wah? - Not a thing.

The 411: Yet again, TV on the Radio has created an album that is complete. Nothing drags but everything mesmerizes. The heightened sense of maturity and candour moves on nicely from the exuberant and distinctive psychadelia of their previous two albums. It would been easy given the success of “Wolf Like Me” to take the edge off their sound, but the band has stayed true to themselves and remained accessible while innovative at the same time.

Final Score:  9.5   [  Amazing ]