Consumer Guide Album

TV on the Radio: Seeds [Harvest, 2014]
Until the triumphant mortality song "Lazerray" and the scared mortality song "Trouble," both right before the end, this album makes no discernible reference to the death of bassist Gerard Smith. It's a love album front to back--those two could be about love too. So if love is your idea of boring, carp away. Big on love myself, I nonetheless wince at the borderline banality of "Could You" and "Test Pilot," when love goes poorly. But when love goes well--on "Quartz," "Ride," the delicate, muscular "Careful You"--they're strong of mind, body, and spirit. And for your information, love songs that last don't come easy--they take guts, commitment too. A-