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Dear Science is TVOTR's fourth album and their most accessible yet.
Blending their funk roots with a more poppy edge, this album should further extend the Brooklynites' steadily growing audience.
There is much more focus than the last two offerings, 2004's
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes and 2006's Return to Cookie
Mountain, shedding the layers of distortion for a more sparkly
approach.
Even though this album is more direct than its predecessors, it is
still a wholly TVOTR album, with the myriad influences shining through
on each track. Whether it be soul, rap, punk, rock or electronica, it
is easy to tell from any song that this band live and breathe music
from all walks of life.
All the tracks are penned by either main vocalist Tunde Adebimpe or
guitarist/vocalist Kyp Malone, but are then opened up and developed by
the band as a whole. Dave Sitek, who recently produced Scarlett
Johansson's musical arrival, pulls the strings and adds cohesion. With
most of the band proficient on any instrument, the combinations and
possibilities seem endless, highlighting the importance of Sitek's
role.
Not just content with the capabilities of the central five, help
is recruited from Antibalas' horn section and the vocals of
Celebration's Katrina Ford, who also featured on the early
Young Liars EP as well as Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes.
Album opener Halfway Home will set TVOTR fans at ease with its
"don't I know this already?" feel, but the quintet's new approach
reveals itself strikingly in the next track, Crying. Summery funk
guitars and '80s pop basslines dominate giving an immediate foothold
into the album.
The explosion of colour is complete when augmented by
the bright horn fanfare and synth lines. Dancing
Choose is a lot dirtier, sounding more like Saul Williams with its
intensifying frustrated rapping and subby undertones.
There is brief respite in Stork And Owl before the first single,
Golden Age, ups the pace again with its LCD Soundsystem-esque
bassline and build-up. Strings are balanced by fuzz guitars, and
Ford's backing vocals add an other-wordly feel to this infectious
number. Red Dress is a nugget of TVOTR-stamped Afrobeat. Towards the
end, horns and keys come to the fore leaving the listener wanting the
track to go on for another 20 minutes, Fela Kuti style.
Despite the obvious dancey feel to a lot of Dear Science, there are
tender moments such as in the nostalgic Family Tree or the
poignantly string-laden Love Dog. Before it gets too soppy, the
freneticism is back with Shout Me Out which erupts when you least
expect it from a beginning reminiscent of the Doctor Who theme into a delirious freakout.
The album closes with the fittingly jubilant and processional Lover's
Day to emphasize the upbeat nature of the record.
Deep Science should enhance TVOTR's reputation as one of
the finest, forward-thinking bands around, along with fellow Brooklyn
acts Animal Collective and Liars. It may not have a Staring
At The Sun or a Wolf Like Me, but it still serves as a great
introduction to anyone not lucky enough to have experienced the band
so far.
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Mercury Prize 2009 nominees
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