Nine Types of Light will probably always be remembered as the last album by TV on the Radio to feature the work of bassist Gerard Smith. A month before the release of the band’s new album, Smith was diagnosed with lung cancer. Nine days after the album hit stores it was announced that Smith regretfully passed away. Though the album was recorded before the news of Smith's declining health, that doesn't keep one from correlating the record's scaled back, mellower and less urgent sound to the fact that this is the last time Smith's trademark rhythmic bass would ever be recorded. Though Nine Types of Light still features a few songs that one could get up and shake their ass to, it doesn't have the same kind of energy that the band's last album Dear Science had in spades. Now that the news has recently been broken that Smith is no longer with us, we should be thankful that TVOTR has given us less of a party album and more of a somber one.
Nine Types of Light starts things off with the slow building, Kyp Malone penned, “Second Song.” It’s a track that begins with a low key build up of love-tinged poetry before the funky chorus allows Tunde Adebimpe to flex his falsetto muscles. “Keep Your Heart” and “You” follow with nearly ten minutes of relaxed paced love songs that becomes, more than not, the prevailing theme of the disc. Only at times do we get to witness a funky TVOTR dance floor number and the band has all but left behind the break neck recklessness of some their spectacular past compositions. Our first encounter with a toe tapping sing along ass shaker is the raucous “No Future Shock.” Apart from the back to back punch of “New Cannonball Blues” and “Repetition,” “No Future Shock” is one of the few times on Nine Types of Light that the band really cuts loose. And while both “Shock” and the Prince influenced “Cannonball” are both worthy additions to the album, “Repetition” sports not only a repetitive beat but also some of the most derivative lyrics you’ll hear from the typically smart song book of Adebimpe.
Not seeing the more adventurous, or at least energetic, side of TV on the Radio isn’t always a bad thing though. Nine Types of Light does a good job in setting a certain palpable mood. Filled with more love songs than political and social themed compositions, the album is a departure from what we may generally be used to from the band; almost a gasp of air from the sometimes heavy handedness of past works. The album was recorded at band member David Sitek’s new Los Angeles studio and the sound could certainly be compared to the band leaving the smog of Brooklyn to soak up the rays of the west coast. One of the prime examples of the theme that embodies the new album is the record’s longest song “Killer Crane.” At over 6 minutes, “Crane” follows the foot stomping “No Future Shock” by changing pace into a piano and string lead progressive beauty of a song. It’s one of the true highlights on an album that has its fair share.
While Nine Types of Light may not have the same wow factor that was prevalent on the band’s last two full lengths, it is in no way a disappointment. The album is lush and beautiful, cutting away some of the dissonance in favor of a more clean sound; possibly making this the most accessible album by the band to date. It’s a record that will always be remember as the group’s last with Gerard Smith and in the future I think we will appreciate TV on the Radio’s collection of wistful love songs as an appropriate swan song for Smith. In the meantime, we can enjoy what is another cohesive work of art from Brooklyn’s most celebrated collection of rockers.
"Nine Types of Light" is on sale April 12, 2011 from DGC/Interscope.
