Review: TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light
SO! Album five (or four, depending on who you talk to) for TV On the Radio, New York-based Art-rock funksters. What’ve you got for us?
More New York-based Art-rock funk?
Oh.
Okay, so maybe that is a little disingenuous (but you kept reading, eh?) Musically, Nine Types of Light carries on in much the same vein as “break through” album Dear Science, the band’s previously rougher-hewn, shuffling beat given a quick once over and coming out with this sort of futuristic funky sheen.
And it worked pretty well, y’know? It was the first time they really, properly let loose and had some fun. And for the most part this record is musically similar.
But you get the sense the partying lead to some Bad Things. Lyrically, the album is dark, insular, and paranoid, with certain string arrangements and synth stings reflecting this, like the terrible reality of the outside world crashing in on a great party and making everyone despondency-drunk.
Apparently there’s talk of strife in the TV On the Radio camp. It’s not particularly audible on here, but maybe a little shake-up is exactly what they need after this Dear Science hangover.
6.9/10
Nine Types of Light is out on Interscope April 12th
Stream the album in its entirety here
Notes
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