Rock review: TV On the Radio, Dear Science

 

New York's TV On the Radio used to make difficult music that was easier to admire than to like.

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However, their fourth album seems to answer the conundrum of how to make experimental music popular. Led by guitarist/production wizkid David Sitek, Dear Science comes laden with awkward drums, avant jazz squawks, the hum of electric pylons and what at one point sounds like the whirr of a recorded hedge trimmer. However, the noises inhabit tunes that are never less than singable. With influences as diverse as The The, afrobeat and the funky guitar sound favoured by Chic and Haircut 100, Dear Science is both visceral and cerebral. Tunde Adebimpe sings everything from pop critique ("Angry young mannequin, American apparently") to old-fashioned sauce ("I'm gonna shake you, I'm gonna make you come"). The driving Spector-Numanesque Halfway Home may be album opener of the year, while the spectacularly lovely Family Tree is, implausibly, an art rock ballad. Career-defining stuff.

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