Dear Science, is TVOTR’s latest creation, and in keeping with previous releases, bound by nothing. They hold no loyalty to any one sound or format, but that’s not to say that the path they chose wasn’t done so without discretion. As “different” as TVOTR appear to be, present still is a hard line of consistency in their music. The colors and textures that make up the band’s sound rely on a certain sensibility from the listener to be appreciated. Most musicians today cannot bank on such an ear if “success” is to be considered. The modern sense of awareness doesn’t seem sharp enough for a band like TVOTR. Too esoteric? Elitist even? Not if you’re listening correctly.
What might make this album minutely more digestible for the masses is the stronger effort of the get-down factor. “Red Dress”, “Crying” and the album’s single “Golden Age” are motivations for movement. Well…depending on how you move. Not so much James Brown. More drunken-girl-in- East-Village-dive-bar. But still, less stiff and pensive than what they typically deliver.
“DLZ” is for the hunter’s soundtrack. It’s wonderfully dark and captures something sinister and desperate.
“This is beginning to feel like the long winded blues of the never”
Hopelessness never sounded so pretty.
“Family Tree” has the feel of an Olympic victory circa 1970. That doesn’t suggest corniness. In fact, the intimacy and depth of Tunde Adebimpe’s vocals rescue the song from such a fate. And as always, Kyp Malone’s accompaniment offers thickness to the song’s water color composition.
TVOTR somehow keep generic “oooh and ahhh” harmony interesting. There’s no better example of that than on “Love Dog” in which it makes up the bulk of the chorus. Strings and horn stabs complete the odyssey and leave us calmly adrift.
Bottom line—you’re either a fan of TVOTR or you’re not. Either you have accepted their mission or have dismissed it as an empty quest into the land of the strange. This album will maintain the love (or hate) but doubts are high that it will bring in a mass of new followers. This band has defeated the trendiness of itself and proved that this right here is unequivocally what they are. They are exploratory and creative, dynamic and brave. One would think that as a culture this far into the new millennium, we would be immersed in more music of this ilk and caliber. No such luck. Applaud these men.
