“Seeds” is so wonderfully close to the best TV on the Radio can do, it’s bound to make fans miss the heyday.
Itap been about three and a half years since we’ve heard a new album from , but it feels much longer. Maybe we didn’t really expect anything after bassist Gerard Smith died of lung cancer or maybe “Nine Types of Light” seemed like a nice way to leave things. TV on the Radio has most likely peaked. Even the fun of “Nine Types of Light” didn’t reach the heights of “Return to Cookie Mountain.”
But here we have “Seeds.” At this point, TV on the Radio is comfortable being comfortable to its fans. Aside from sounding a bit pricier to produce, these songs might find space on earlier records. Itap familiar, though not as great as anything the band made in the mid-aughts. What distinguishes “Seeds” from other aging bands is that: 1. They haven’t aged quite so much, and, 2. There’s still something special about TV on the Radio.
At the forefront, thatap Tunde Adebimpe’s voice, which has always been just right. It delivers a wallop of emotion in even the most standard lines. TV on the Radio’s best trick, though, is making music thatap propulsive and tense. “Winter” recalls the persistent guitar fuzz of the band’s earlier music and the horn section on “Could You” Even the more electronic sounds — and there are more than usual — serve the same driving purpose. “Happy Idiot,” maybe the best song on “Seeds,” showcases that best. And when the band needs to break up the pace, itap sad and beautiful (see: “Test Pilot,” “Ride”). All of it, whatever the tone, feels like catharsis.
“Seeds” is so wonderfully close to the best TV on the Radio can do, it’s bound to make fans miss the heyday. This sounds like a band less interested in harsh experimentation and lyrics with a sharp point than making something thatap just plain old gorgeous. And “Seeds” is gorgeous enough to show us that TV on the Radio can keep going after itap peaked.
