TV On The Radio - Will Do

Will Do by Tv On The Radio  
Download now or listen on posterous

TV on the Radio Will Do.mp3 (3437 KB)

Over the last month or so, I've found myself listening to Dave Sitek's debut album as Maximum Balloon because it's the closest to a new TV On The Radio album it seemed we'd have for a while. I've noticed a lot of things about the album in that time, aside from it being a very dance music kind of beast. Most of what I've noticed though leads me to think that he was just trying to fill time until his actual band got back together.

All of a sudden, here comes an announcement that a new TVOTR album, Nine Types of Light, will be upon us sometime this spring, and then yesterday, "Will Do" was posted by the band and released to radio. It's a pretty straightforward love song, but Kyp Malone's falsetto, as always, takes it to the next level. And Sitek's always overly deep production, which just reveals more and more the louder the track gets on headphones, is impeccable.

The thing that makes Sitek, and indeed TVOTR as a whole, stand at the front of the Brooklyn experimental pack is that they can bring together soulful vocals and all manner of sounds into a complete package. So where "Will Do" could conceivably be produced and sung by any number of duos, the layering and complication is what makes it special. Danger Mouse's specialty is that he strips things bare, and has a sound all his own. Sitek goes in the opposite direction, though with a sound that even more his own. Starting out with what could be a mid-90s Massive Attack-style beat, the song opens into the type of melodic groove fans have come to expect.

Here's the other thing: "Will Do" tells us exactly nothing about what this album is going to sound like. All we have is another slab of soulful music. Three days ago, I suggested that the new Radiohead album was made for alt-sex romance. Scratch that. TV On The Radio wants you to feel actual emotion. They want you to roll with it. My answer? Will do. 

Buy all of TV On The Radio's discography, or just the pieces you don't have, from Amazon.

Posted via email from One Stupid Mop