TV on the Radio’s “Dear Science,” has only been around for six weeks but iTunes is telling me I’ve listened to it over a hundred times since its release date. Its that kind of album: accessible enough that you’re singing along from the second listen but complex enough that you’ll make at new discoveries every time you play it.
It won’t surprise many TVotR’s fans that their latest effort is a work of genius, but it will throw many, me included, that it’s this kind of genius.
Previous TVotR recordings were, to put it mildly, a little bit out there. There was almost always a strong tune and worthwhile lyrics but it was sometimes hard to find them amidst the layers of found and sampled noise, kaleidoscope mix of musical styles and Tunde & Kyp’s fuzzed up vocals. Until now TV on the Radio were pretty much what you might expect from the “Experimental New York art-rock” label they’ve so often been tagged with.
“Dear Science,” pulls that pigeon hole from the wall, smashes it with a hammer then proceeds to dance all night on the remains. It’s a big, blustering album with TVotR’s funk, jazz, hip-hop and rock influences being raided for their most entertaining rather than most esoteric qualities. There’s half a dozen tracks that would do the lads proud as singles, and the album as a whole is a gem that’ll bring them a lot of new fans.
Long term fans needn’t fear the band has lost their edge: dark lyrics and a sampling/instrumental style that make you feel like the combined contents of a music shop and a junk store are being thrown are both in evidence. This isn’t a band that have sold out, they’ve just taken to partying rather than playing with pocket calculators.
Barring a seriously good late upset in December I think “Dear Science,” is album of the year, and hopefully a lot of new fans will be receiving it in their Christmas stockings this year. Well done Tunde Adebimpe, David Sitekand Kyp Malone, with Sitek taking additional credit for being the man in the producer’s chair.