TV On The Radio
Dear Science
Touch & Go/ 4AD/ Remote Control



There's something about this album that sets it apart - not just from TV On The Radio's own previous releases, but also from the current malaise of sounds emerging from the creative hub of Brooklyn, New York City. There's space in the sound of this third album. Where previously sounds piled up to create a melange of noise and extreme cacophony, the key to 'Dear Science' is the breathability of it all.

It allows the songs to shine - opener Halfway Home is all over-driven rock fury, blasting out with Ramones-like 'ba ba baa' vocal hooks and an urgent delivery from Kyp Malone's co-frontman Tunde Adebimpe but, along with second single Dancing Choose, it's really the exception to the rule. Other numbers, such as Crying or Love Dog are rendered with a more funky touch than anything on the five-piece's all-powerful second album, 'Return To Cookie Mountain'.

Where that album thrilled through the sounds created by producer, creative fulcrum and sound manipulator Dave Sitek, 'Dear Science' instead is full of creative hooks and melodies - it's a record that makes an immediate impact upon the ears instead of making the listener work to appreciate it. Everything about this albums screams that no longer are TV On The Radio making music as an intellectual pursuit: instead they're making it for the sheer pleasure of creating something that connects.

It does so in spades - Golden Age blends Prince and the ever-present influence of Bowie in a glorious amalgam, while songs such as Stork & Owl and the brilliantly mournful Family Tree offer up blissful counterweights to the more aggressive tendencies of Red Dress or the sinister tones of DLZ. What's so satisfying about 'Dear Science' is that it's more than just about the sum of its parts - it works as a cohesive piece where each element can also stand alone. A stunning release, and clearly one of the musical highlights of 2008, 'Dear Science' is the sort of album that's going to resonate for years to come.

Andrew Weaver