During the nearly three years between
Dear Science and
Nine Types of Light, the members of
TV on the Radio worked on their own projects, which ranged from
Tunde Adebimpe's role in Rachel Getting Married to
Kyp Malone's
Rain Machine to
David Sitek's move to Los Angeles and solo album,
Maximum Balloon. When they and the rest of the band reconvened,
Sitek's studio became their home base, and that west coast vibe sets
Nine Types of Light apart from their other work. It’s no coincidence that this is the group’s sunniest set of songs; much of the angst and yearning that fueled albums such as
Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes, and
Dear Science are gone, replaced by a mellower focus on matters of the heart.
Nine Types of Light unfolds at an unhurried pace, beginning with a pair of
Malone songs that sound like they should close an album rather than begin it. The confessional, ambling “Second Song” takes its sweet time to build up to a mildly funky groove; as it flares into brass and guitar, it sounds like dusk becoming night on the Sunset Strip. “Keep Your Heart” is the musical equivalent of a warm bath, with caressing strings and lyrics like “all these blues I have cried” giving it the feel of the calm after the storm. That the album ends with “Caffeinated Consciousness,” a brief check-in with the righteous fury the band usually displays, underscores how different
Nine Types of Light is from what came before it. Though they crank things up on “Repetition” and “No Future Shock,”
TV on the Radio sound more comfortable being comfortable, even when getting in some satirical digs at the L.A. mindset (“Beverly Hills/nuclear winter/what should we wear/and who’s for dinner?”) on “Forgotten”'s eternal summer haze. The band has always written about love with the same urgency and eloquence with which they tackle politics and other subjects, and
Nine Types of Light is no exception.
Adebimpe delivers two of the album’s brightest moments with “You,” a poppy meditation on how deceptive the heat of the moment can be, and the gorgeous “Will Do,” a playful, seductive piece of soul-pop that ranks among
TV on the Radio's finest moments. Indeed, the way the band’s soul undercurrents rise to the fore, as on the psych-soul interlude “Killer Crane,” may be the best and most exciting thing about
Nine Types of Light. In many ways, the album feels like a working holiday for the band; even if it’s not as explosive as some of their previous work, it shows that they can age gracefully and try new things at the same time. ~ Heather Phares