Dear Science
*Dear Science* finesses TVOTR\'s unusual ability to synthesize the very foundations of classic/prog rock with an atmosphere of futuristic surrealism – both musically and thematically. The first single, “Golden Age,” is subterfuge for a rare strain of optimism in the band’s work, a fantastically perky bass line laying the foundation for a dance track full of shiny horns, fluttering synths and strings, and a heavenly choir of voices. The beautiful “Lover’s Day” (with Eleanore Everdell’s vocals a perfect partner to Kyp Malone’s) is an unabashed celebration of carnal delights, with a phalanx of steady drums, soaring horns, and circling flute meeting up in a powerful coda, accompanied by angelic vocal backing. It’s darn sexy. Opener “Halfway Home” has the same majestic sheen and tension-filled buzz that made “Wolf Like Me” such a potent song, and “Dancing Choose” is an energetic, staccato-rap number moved along by a sly, funky rhythm that builds a head of steam with charging saxophones. The slow-building, soulful “Shout Me Out” virtually explodes into a fantastic, guitar-heavy crescendo.
Musically shit-hot but also brainy and ambivalent, the latest from TV on the Radio cements them as a true Event Band, and the sign o’ the times they capture here isn’t audacious hope, or fierce revolution: It’s confusion. They’re the house band for a country that has no idea what’ll hit it next.
<p>The art-rockers have fulfilled their potential, says <strong>Ben Thompson</strong></p>
It's all noise, everything is noise; birds chirp, construction crews jackhammer, and cities teem with the shock of waveform glut.
TV on the Radio - Dear Science review: Funky, soulful, poppy but not without considerable weight, Dear Science is one of 2008's best.