The solo album of Tunde Adebimpe, singer of tv on the radio – diepresse.com
At the age of 50, Tunde Adebimpe presented a first solo album. The singer of the US indigenous sand on the radio surprises on « Thee Black Boltz » with the turn to catchy melodies.
When the text-tone scissors differ, pop music becomes reliably interesting. This is exactly what happens on « Thee Black Boltz » (Sub Pop), the first solo album by Tunde Adebimpe, the singer of the New York band TV on the radio. In the song « Drop », happy rhythm pattern and beatbox-fischel with fear lines such as « Will i feel it when i drop? ». The melody, which then develops, is a beauty that is reminiscent of the soft rock of the 1970s. However, the text sung is so dark that it fits ideally into the here and now. We are just a tiny point on the line of time, the 50-year-old pondered, but still being of hope: « We can all come together, burn so bright and rise into the night. »
For eleven years there has been no new album from TV on the Radio, one of the formative bands of the zero years. The silence had good reasons. After five albums, Adebimpe was somewhat burned out from the music business, and it took time to live out his other talents. The mercury musician is also busy as a cartoonist and actor. The latter, for example, in blockbusters such as « Spiderman – The Homecoming » and Jonathan Demmes « Rachel Getting Married ». Major this man jumps around the disciplines. And so he needed six years for « Thee Black Boltz », which sounds surprisingly « pop » in a surprisingly culinary way. Adebimpe consistently uses that method of mixing contradictory aesthetics, which also characterizes the music of his band.
Weird choirs, stumbling beats
The most blatant probably in « The Most », where cool synthesizers give themselves a set with reggae rhythms. The text on these torn sounds senses the nature of the desire. Love has already passed in the next song « God Knows », but something phantom -like swings comfortably. « You’re the worst Thing i’ve ever Loved », Adebimpe sings without any bitterness to the elegant melody line.
The hiker saves the gesture of the rock between the musical worlds. In the brisk « Magnetic » he allows himself some guitar feedback. The somewhat rushed « Ate the Moon » celebrates the digital rock duct. But that’s it. The variety dominates in the rest of the songs. Weird choirs adorn the bubblegum pop of « Pinstack », and stumbling electrobeats dominate in « Somebody Knew », a song that like a scattered composition of Depeche fashion works.
A little kitsch à la Coldplay
Ultimately, the table bends under the weight of the sound delicacies between jazz intensity and post-punk quotes. In its opulence and heterogeneity, “Thee Black Boltz” is reminiscent of a buffet event. It is almost a smörgåsbord of sounds that is only held together by the charismatic voice. This sounds particularly tender in « Ily », an acoustic ballad in which the singer complains about his sister’s early death. He loves her with a « Heart that’s pure and true ». This is almost kitsch à la Coldplay. But who wants to condemn him for it?
In any case, this solo album had Adebimpes newly awakened musical instincts. You can be excited to see how this will affect your main band. With TV on the radio, Adebimpe will be available in the Vienna Gasometer on June 25th. Anticipation is the order of the day.
