TV on the Radio - Dear Science

Rating:

* * * * *

Dear TV On the Radio. What planet are you from? Surely you must have beamed in from somewhere before setting up residence in New York? It's an obvious question after hearing the quintet's third - and best - album which continues their tradition of pushing music in all sorts of weird and colourful directions.

It's rare to find a record as unique yet captivating, strange yet classic, and as immaculate sounding as

Dear Science

.

In 2006 songs like the beautifully sluggish

Hours

and the relentless

Wolf Like Me

made second album

Return To Cookie Mountain

a breakthrough record of sorts for this oddball collective, who are made all the more distinctive by the remarkable vocal pairing of Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone.

And

Dear Science

is equally as eccentric, dark, and out of this world. However, as tracks like

Crying

(TV On the Radio's

Stand By Me

perhaps?), the brassy knees-up of

Red Dress

, and propulsive opener

Halfway Home

show, the songs have more stability and structure and therefore are more accessible.  But beware, because armed with everything from Prince-style guitars, synths, samples and strings they still deliver an uneasy and menacing listening experience. Seeing to that are songs like the abrasive and clattery

Dancing Choose

and

Shout Me Out

, which turns from a meandering ditty into a gallivanting drum'n'bass meets shoegazer anthem.

Then there's the cosmic slop of first single

Golden Age

followed by the lyrical and vocal masterpiece

Family Tree

, with lines like "And in the shadow of the gallows of your family tree. There's a hundred hearts or three. Pumping blood to the roots of evil to keep them young."

Deliciously dark stuff.

Dear Science

is one of the top albums, if not the best, of the year and don't be surprised if you get to see them live in the near future. Watch this space.

Scott Kara