Dear Science
TV on the Radio
Score:96
Reviewer: Ed Butler
Label: 4AD (USA & UK), Remote Control (Australia)
Reviewed: Aug 25th '08, Released:2008
TV on the Radio have a strong Bowie connection. The Thin White Duke himself offered guest vocals on the band’s previous outing, the stunning and darkly whimsical Return to Cookie Mountain, and publicly and loudly declared himself a fan. Now it seems Brooklyn’s TVOTR are returning the favour, because, if their new, wondrous Dear Science is anything to go by, they’ve been listening to a lot of Bowie.
TVOTR have always been pioneers of the modern soul music, constantly and archly referencing music from the Stax era, while nudging it in new and fascinating directions. But on Dear Science, their incorporation of mid-70s Bowie and Motown grooves has unquestionably pushed them amongst the elite. By adding another layer to their already dense sound, TVOTR have found their mojo. And made a masterpiece.
While RTCM was undeniably epic, this embrace of an unmistakable groove only enhances the powerful emotional impact of joint singers Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone. Jaleel Bunton's excursions into straight-up 4/4 time on previous outings have been dispensed with, here he furiously syncopates, upping the funk repeatedly. Nowhere is this more powerful than on ‘Golden Age’, which happily nods to ‘Golden Years’, whose rhythm section was knowingly pilfered.
Opener, 'Halfway Home' is a misleading beginning, reminiscent of 'Wolf Like Me', but easing into a tighter sound before exploding into hyperspace in the second half. None of the primal intensity of 'Wolf Like Me''s performance is here. Adebimpe saves that for later. 'Dancing Choose' sees a quasi-yelling rap careening over horns and another simple guitar motif that hovers just at the right place on the edge of the song. Sitek's production is flawless.
Beyond all this, the stunning four-shot of ‘Golden Age’, ‘Family Tree’, ‘Red Dress’ and ‘Love Dog’ stand as a thrilling centerpiece. While TVOTR have discovered their sonic libidos, thematically, they remain the same; lofty, wistful and romantically morbid. Where once “Love (was) the promise of the brave”, now it is about the “Lonely little love dog, who no one knows the name of”. Adebimpe, more than any other songwriter today, can package the personal into the epic, the lustful into the melancholy, and the Bowie into the 21st century. Long may he, and his compatriots, continue.
