Dear Science

TV On The Radio: Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars); Tunde Adebimpe (vocals); Jaleel Bunton (guitars, Fender Rhodes piano, organ, synthesizer, bass guitar, drums, programming); David Andrew Sitek (guitars, synthesizer, programming, sampler); Gerard A. Smith (Fender Rhodes piano, organ, synthesizer, bass guitar, sampler). Somewhere between highbrow art rock and the more familiar, accessible sounds of indie and post-punk, TV On the Radio had already positioned themselves, over the course of their first two albums, as one of the better bands of the early 21st century. DEAR SCIENCE, the group's third disc, is a quantum leap forward as it refines the swirling experimentalism of its predecessor, RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN, and applies it to a batch of songs that are hook-filled and inspired. DEAR SCIENCE is distinguished overall by more danceable rhythms, as on the funky parable "Golden Age" and the driving "Red Dress" (which features members of Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra). Prince and Fela Kuti may be exerting more of an influence, but TVOTR still haven't relinquished their devotion to Brian Eno and Joy Division: dark corners and layered ambient dimensions give these songs an endless, labyrinthine feel. A stunning achievement, DEAR SCIENCE is one of the year's best albums, and is also a blueprint for the future of rock music.