The 'Light' side of TV on the Radio

For its fifth album, “Nine Types of Light,” TV On The Radio decided to go for something brighter, and it makes that goal perfectly clear.

If the album’s title and artwork alone weren’t suggestive enough, look no further than the bafflingly numerous mentions of the word “light” in lyrics from the opening track “Second Song” (“Every diamond elemental, you are instrumental due to the light”) to closer “Caffeinated Consciousness” (“Improve our days now, ’cause we might not sleep tonight / Suffused are we to the cause of light”) and at many points in between.

Furious electric guitar lines, like those that anchored thunderous fan favorites “Wolf Like Me” and “Halfway Home,” are out; soft sonic ambience and pretty banjo lines are in. Gone are Tunde Adebimpe’s darker, soul-pouring hooks from songs like “DLZ.” In their place are more playful and laid-back choruses like those from “Second Song” and its successor, “Keep Your Heart.” Overall, there is a newfound sense of contentment rather than the sense of urgency we are used to hearing from them.

However, this new direction feels more like a sacrifice for the band than a challenge in the end. The unique traits that elevated TV On The Radio into the indie rock elite (heavy beats, spurts of horns, detailed supplementary electronics) just don’t seem to deliver here like they have in the past, and for that reason, “Nine Types of Light” simply is not on the level of the band’s previous two efforts.