Dear Science,

Dear Science, TV on the Radio's follow-up to 2006's Return to Cookie Mountain-- a dense and textural album with an optimistic core-- is catchier, but thornier than its predecessor. Musically, it's an instant grabber: Handclaps crack like fireworks. TVOTR's horns, courtesy of the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, sound punchier and brighter than ever before. Vocalists Tunde Adebimpe and guitarist/singer Kyp Malone thrive as dual frontmen: They're sexy when they're angry, and even sexier when they're not. And David Sitek's production is shiny and urgent, while his harsher synths and doo-dads hang back like a commentary track. 

TV On The Radio's third studio album Dear Science is their most cohesive collection so far. At first (and second) listen its highs might not seem as triumphant as "Staring At The Sun" or "Wolf Like Me," but on repeat listens, the consistency of its 11 tracks turns it into a more satisfying whole, and soon enough certain songs spread their wings, feel like some of the best of TVOTR's oeuvre. Throughout it's a more mature sound, desperate youth and young liars. Really, it might take ears a while to get: Dave Sitek's production is syrupy dense with a high count of horns, hand claps, pulses, and synthesizers. But let it sink in some because turns out our first tastes of the Brooklyn band's return from Cookie Mountain, the full-screed-ahead "Dancing Choose" and the funky, optimistic, P.M. Dawn-leaning "Golden Age" aren't the album's best.