TV on the Radio: Nine Types of Light

Label: Interscope

Nine Types of Light begins (typically) cryptically -- for one thing, the opening tune is called "Second Song" -- but unmistakably positive, signaling a more emotionally upbeat TV on the Radio on its fifth studio album. Perhaps it has something to do with being made in L.A., where it's always sunny and 75 degrees? But this is still TVotR: The emotions are slippery, the light always shifting; you need to, as Tunde Adebimpe sings on "Second Song," shift into the light. "No Future Shock" sounds like it's counseling otherwise, the band's patented multifarious brand of art-rock galvanizing even as it casts blue skies above in the form of cresting backing harmonies. Like with Dear Science, many of the tracks are suffused with a secondary purpose as challenging but satisfying dance-rock; the beats on "You," "Repetition" and "New Cannonball Blues" especially could inspire curious revelry on the dance-floor. Another TVotR album to sit with and move to all year long! (The deluxe CD includes three bonus tracks.)