Nine Types of Light – TV on the Radio

From the first moments of ‘Nine Types of Light’ opener “Second Song,” you can
immediately tell that you are listening to a TV on the Radio album. The song blooms
and slowly evolves to reveal layers of instruments as vocals quickly shift from soft
spoken to falsetto. For a band like TV on the Radio, these drastic changes in tone
seem natural. The band have spent their past few albums perfecting a sound that fills
every nook of your speakers, and here they deliver a slightly more subdued follow-up to
2008’s ‘Dear Science.’

If their last album was meant to be a dance-floor call to arms, this album seems to be
more introverted. Filled more with ballads than burners, ‘Nine Types’ encourages you
to take a closer listen than any previous TV on the Radio album. It is a consistent, well-
paced effort that pulls as much from their Brooklyn based art-rock background as it
does pop. On album highlight “Will Do,” for example, abrasive guitar lines are paired
with an entrancing drum loop and string swells. Moments like these make you realize
just how important melody is to TV on the Radio.

Not all of ‘Nine Types’ is a laid-back experience, however, as tracks such as “New
Cannonball Run” and Caffeinated Consciousness” recall the most bombastic moments
on “Cookie Mountain.” Although these songs carry an updated production sheen,
they are still the kind of tracks that are guaranteed to get people moving. “Caffeinated
Consciousness” even continues the pop trend of the album by sounding like a lost INXS
single.

‘Nine Types’ is a solid album from a well-established band. The album carries a unique
sound not found in many other major releases, and because of this, the album is likely
to please both hardcore fans and casual listeners. While not as varied as ‘Dear Science’
or as exciting as ‘Cookie Mountain,’ it is still a great listen from start to finish, and
definitely worth giving a listen.

-Dylan Fagan

Illustration by Barry Lee