Turning on the Radio

How the famed band caught mad dance fever

 INTERVIEW. How is a band to follow up a gritty, unhinged, breakthrough third album? If you’re TV on the Radio, you make a sunny sounding dance album. “Dear Science” is the band’s most accessible record to date, and bassist/vocalist Kyp Malone says he likes it that way.

“It lends itself to a more fun live experience from the performance perspective,” he says.

How did your approach differ from the last album?
There was a more economic use of sound on this one compared to the last one. [“Return to Cookie Mountain”] could be described as us using very broad brush strokes to convey ideas. In this one, it’s much more specific, more organized.

Given that “Dear Science” occasionally takes a danceable turn, would you describe this record as upbeat?
Yes. … I don’t feel that we were playing dirges so much before but it’s nice to take it that direction.

The design of the lyrics in this album’s liner notes are presented as a type-written letter to science, signed by the band. Can you talk about the theme of “Dear Science”?
I don’t want to give the impression that the record is a concept album based around the title, because it’s not. ... The title came from a note that Dave [Sitek, guitarist] wrote in the studio as a joke that said, “Dear Science, please start solving problems and curing diseases or shut the f— up.”

How did the current political environment shape this album?
I feel like it’s there in the lyrics, pretty overtly. There’s not that much coding going on. I’m not a good enough writer. I’m working on subtlety. I don’t think I’ve achieved it by any stretch.

What are your thoughts on the election?
I’m of two minds about it. ... I think it’s a distraction. If we could, as voters in a participatory Democracy without money in our pockets, have as much influence as lobbyists, then I feel like it would mean something. At the same time, I feel a responsibility to participate.

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