Having produced back-to-back gems in Return To Cookie Mountain and Dear Science, New York art rockers TV On The Radio have been on something of a hot streak, and they have continued their winning ways with the wonderful Nine Types Of Light. They have been keeping busy in the two-and-a-half years since Dear Science, with the much sought-after David Sitek releasing an excellent solo album as Maximum Balloon, as well as producing records by the likes of Telepathe and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kyp Malone releasing his own solo album as Rain Machine, and Tunde Adebimpe collaborating with artists ranging from Liars to Massive Attack.
Elements of each member’s extra-curricular work have been brought to bear on Nine Types Of Light, which does a bang-up job of merging the experimental rock of Cookie Mountain with the skittering art funk of Dear Science. The opening track, titled somewhat oddly ‘Second Song’, is built around an infectious dance groove, and features brilliantly catchy brass flourishes. Danceable rhythms are also a notable feature of ‘No Cannonball Blues’, ‘Repetition’, ‘You’ and ‘No Future Shock’, the latter of which attempts to kickstart a new dance craze courtesy of Adembimpe’s exhortation to “Do the no future!”
Elsewhere, there are several of the touching, heartfelt ballads in which TVOTR specialise, with ‘Will Do’, ‘Keep Your Heart’ and ‘You’ pulling off the band’s trademark trick of being simultaneously cerebral and emotional. For good measure, they close the record with one of the finest tracks, the juddering, riff-heavy rocker ‘Caffeinated Consciousness’.
It’s true that there’s nothing good on TV these days – unless of course it’s on the radio.