TV on the Radio 'Dear Science' album

TV On The Radio incorporates grander, more orchestral arrangements into its David Bowie-influenced sound on its new album, "Dear Science," released September 23rd via Interscope. Dear Science" is the follow-up to the band's 2006 Interscope debut, "Return to Cookie Mountain," which has sold 187,000 copies in the United States.

"A lot of bands have something to say," explains TV On The Radio producer/multi-instrumentalist David Sitek. "We have something to ask."

TV On The Radio's loose approach to songwriting, recording and performing leaves an incredible amount of room for instrument-swapping and role reversals. Rather than rely on a stringent guitars/bass/drums/vocals setup, the quintet often brings home-demoed sketches to the studio along with the attitude that a track needs to go through everyone's filter before it becomes a fully formed song.

"Music is the most flexible medium in the world for me," explains Sitek, the beat conductor responsible for distilling the band's tracks down to a living, breathing composition that's never cloying or cumbersome. "There is no shortage of ideas; the hard part is not following each whim."

As much as he tries to keep a record sounding lean, Sitek is quick to admit, "It takes most bands an album to get to a high track count. I can go from 4 to 96 in a day, without question. I'm track hungry, really. A lot of stuff isn't even an instrument."

The densest a TVOTR disc ever got was their third LP, 2006's Return to Cookie Mountain, a collection of songs you need to scale with hi-def headphones to truly appreciate. Sitek went a little lighter on the multi-tracking with Dear Science, but not by much.

"You know how people always say that comedians are some of the saddest people in the world?" asks Adebimpe. "Well, the opposite is true, too. As heavy as some of the songs get, the joking around that goes around between the five of us gets out of control sometimes."

"If people are listening to us because we're dark and brooding, great," adds Sitek, "But I think there's a greater percentage looking for us to do something different with every album. Some of the darkest songs on Dear Science are the more upbeat ones. Like 'Crying' is heavy, dude."

TV On The Radio still goes for the jugular in the melancholic and moody department. In fact, some of Dear Science sounds downright menacing. "It's like Bukowski once said, 'I write all of this stuff to get away from it,'" explains Adebimpe, who struggled with the deaths of a friend and family member during the making of Dear Science. "Writing is a meditation, an exercise to put away all these painful things.'"

Ultimately what TV On The Radio still hopes to do with its music-they're still looking to connect, to make people feel something, anything no matter how up or down a song's arrangement is.

"I grew up listening to Joy Division, New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen, the Cure, the Smiths and the Swans," says Malone. "Some of that qualifies as 'goth' but it didn't make me depressed to listen to that music despite what my parents assumed. It didn't add to my 'angst' as a teenager. I simply identitfied with something in the music.

"It made me feel less alone, you know?" he continues. "If I could be that for someone else, that would make me happy. It'd be a real form of success for me."

The single, "Dancing Choose" is now impacting Alternative.

tour dates
10/10 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania @ Electric Factory#
10/11 - Providence, Rhode Island @ Lupos#
10/13 - Boston, Massachusetts @ Wilbur Theatre#
10/14 - Brooklyn, New York @ Masonic Temple#
10/15 - Brooklyn, New York @ Masonic Temple
10/16 - Brooklyn, New York @ Masonic Temple
10/18 - Cincinnati, Ohio @ Bogarts#
10/19 - Indianapolis, Indiana @ Vogue Theatre#
10/20 - Minneapolis, Minnesota @ First Ave#
10/21 - Minneapolis, Minnesota @ First Ave#
10/22 - Chicago, Illinois @ Riviera#
10/24 - New Orleans, Louisiana (Voodoo Festival)#
10/25 - Atlanta, Georgia @ Tabernacle#
10/26 - Knoxville, Tennessee @ Bijou Theatre#
10/28 - Dallas, Texas @ Lakewood Theatre#
10/30 - Austin, Texas @ Stubbs#
10/31 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma @ Diamond Ballroom#
11/02 - Denver CO @ Ogden Theatre
11/06 - Los Angeles, California @ Wiltern#
* w/ Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
# w/ The Dirtbombs

meet the band
The band consists of:
Tunde Adebimpe-Vocals;
Kyp Malone- Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Synths;
David Andrew Sitek-Programming, Guitars;
Gerard A Smith- Bass, Organ, Synths,;
Jaleel Bunton-Drums, Guitars, Organ, Synths, Bass.

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TV on the Radio - Dear Science