Nine Types of Light

Perhaps it was a residual feeling, an emotional vestige from Tunde Adebimpe’s role as groom Sidney in the film Rachel Getting Married. Or maybe it was a desire to contrast the tumultuous times of 2011 with an amorous album. Following 2008’s Dear Science, where TV on the Radio balanced anger with hope, Nine Types of Light overflows with complex themes of love. “Second Song” opens with Adebimpe questioning and doubting his feelings until the song blossoms with Bee Gees–inspired falsettos and a groove so sunny that he entertains going with the flow. Over the mellow grooves and decaying disco of “You,” he tries his best to dodge Cupid’s arrow until the hypnotic “Will Do,” where despite impracticalities and bad timing he lets down his guard and gives in. Still, Adebimpe’s glasses aren’t completely rose-tinted, as he sings "If the world all falls apart/How am I going to keep your heart?" on the foreboding indie-dance jam “No Future Shock.” Fans of the band’s role as an apocalyptic harbinger need look no further than “New Cannonball Blues” and “Caffeinated Consciousness.”