The group has released several EPs including their debut Young Liars (2003), and five studio albums: Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (2004), Return to Cookie Mountain (2006), Dear Science (2008), Nine Types of Light (2011), and Seeds (2014).
For most of the band's existence, the core TV on the Radio lineup has been Tunde Adebimpe (vocals/loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars/keyboards/loops), Kyp Malone (vocals/guitars/bass/loops), Jaleel Bunton (drums/vocals/loops/guitars) and Gerard Smith (bass/keyboards) as official members.
The band's Bio from their website:
TV on the Radio gets to do anything. Like a small platoon whose pleasing impenetrability is their core, the band consistently confounds expectations while managing to balance respect from critics and peers alike. The result is TV on the Radio gets to do anything they want. This freedom is their engine.
“It’s about doing what feels right,” says singer Tunde Adebimpe. “I really feel like this band is something that is expansive and always changing and growing. If we wear our influences on our sleeve, it’s a pretty crowded sleeve.”
It’s no different with Seeds, the new and fifth proper studio album that Adebimpe has made along with Jaleel Bunton, Kyp Malone, and David Andrew Sitek (who also produced it). Having long outlasted that early 2000s fascination with all things Brooklyn to which the hip willfully succumbed, they continue to conquer music on their own terms. This album serves as another step in continuing to heed their reputation as “the most vital, current band in America” (Associated Press).
This go-round the songs are immediate and triumphant, textured with storytelling hooks and possibly the most honest music this band has ever composed. They’ve hit a point where they’re OK being straight-up beautiful without having to manipulate prettiness into whatever unforeseen shape.
Slate says Seeds has “TV on the Radio’s best songs in years. They are sounding sharper than ever.” And the band knows it. Adebimpe has already said this is the band’s best record. Not a boast, just an observation.
“I feel like I knew it before we were done,” he says immediately. “I was so excited by the songs while we were making them, I wanted to get more and more and more into it. The general feeling going into it was, 'We're still here. Our friendship with each other is so strong. Being in a band, at its best times, is like being... well, let’s say whenever things are going really well, we're like ‘cool, Voltron's back together.’“
The TV on the Radio guys are the type of people who go on hiatus and focus on music. They may take time between albums for their other endeavors, but they know when it’s right to come together – especially when the music comes as easily and passionately as it did with case Seeds. The band found themselves collected in David Sitek’s Los Angeles studio last year and recorded a couple of songs – “Mercy” and “Million Miles” and didn’t want to stop.
“Those were just songs that we wrote because we hadn't written songs together in a while,” says Sitek “They came out really fast and inspired us to do it again – and then ‘again’ turned into the record.”
Adebimpe and Sitek live in Los Angeles, Bunton and Malone reside in New York, but make no mistake: TV on the Radio is a quartet. To attempt to parse out exactly what each member does in the group would be to dismantle the fundamental essence of what makes TV on the Radio the monolithic anomaly they have been careful to cultivate and protect for more than a decade. They permeate beyond a wall of sound, and instead create a planetarium of music with every song. They embody many voices. Most of them can play just about anything. And sing too. They are equal partners in the creation of a type of noise that appeared seemingly out of nowhere over 10 years ago.
Throughout the years, TV on the Radio has been consistent in the standard they set for themselves. Earlier records, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes and Return To Cookie Mountain stole the hearts of fans and critics alike just the same, winning the Shortlist Music Prize and Spin's Album of the Year respectively. Their breakout release Dear Science was named best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Spin Magazine, The New York Times, The Onion AV Club, MTV, even Entertainment Weekly. An embarrassment of riches, really. Their last album, 2011's Nine Types of Light, was deemed "pure heaven" by the cherubs at Rolling Stone, and earned the band a Grammy® nomination. The band has also graced the stages of Saturday Night Live and The Colbert Report.
“The band is it’s own ‘self.’ It has to be that way,” Adebimpe says. “That's been the goal for a long time. Nobody really wants to be the focal point for the band; the band should be the focal point. Not even the band: the music. We can show up and take credit for it, but ultimately it's something that maybe we helped shape and facilitate coming into the world. But that’s all.”
They happily recruit likeminded associates to help prop up this invention of theirs in the studio and on stage. (Kelis, for instance, appears on “Lazzeray”). The band has recorded and performed with other artists who’ve conquered the music world on their own terms just as much as they have. Fellow mavericks like Trent Reznor, Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs fame, Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy, Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead, Martin Perna of Antibalas, Katrina Ford of Celebration, and David chuffing Bowie have all romped in the sandbox with TV on the Radio.
“If you share a material thing, it dissipates,” Adebimpe says, recalling a fragment of philosophy he once heard, or might be improvising on the spot. “If you share a spiritual thing, it just increases. It becomes more and more and more. I'm already thinking about the next record.”
Seeds is an expression of everything this band has been through in the last three years and more. They’re influential, in their prime, they’re TV on the Radio, and they’ve proven themselves to be one of the most important bands of this generation. It clicks, as it always does, and TV on the Radio is brand new again, again.
“No matter what you go through individually and collectively, when you step away from each other, you're kind of like, "I know that if we get together we can fire this thing," says Adebimpe. “It's definitely in the spirit of the punk rock we all grew up with. If you win, you're still a punk. If you lose, you're still a punk, and honestly, it's not about anybody else.”
http://www.tvontheradio.com/
I Was A Lover
TV on the Radio Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Held up in a luxury suite, behind a barricaded door
Now that I've cleaned up, gone legit
I can see clearly: round hole
Round whole, square peg don't fit
I'm locked in my bedroom, so send back the clowns
My clone wears a brown shirt, and I seduce him when there's no one around
Mano why mano, on a bed of nails
Bring it on like a storm, till I knock the wind out of his sails
And we don't make eye contact, when we have run-in's in town
Just a barely polite nod, and nervous stares towards the ground
I once joined a priest class, plastic, inert
In a slowdance with commerce
Like a lens up a skirt
And we liked to party
And we kept it live
And we had a three volume tome of contemporary slang
To keep a handle on all this jive
Ennui unbridled, let's talk to kill the time
How many styles did you cycle through before you were mine?
And it's been a while since we went wild and that's all fine
But we're sleepwalking through this trial
And it's really a crime it's really a crime it's really a crime
It's really criminal
We're just busy tempting, like fate's on the nod
Running on empty, bourbon and god
It's been a while since we knew the way
And it's been even longer since our plastic priest class
Had a goddamned thing to say
I was a lover before this war
TV on the Radio's song "I Was A Lover" delves into one's conscious and unconscious desires in the midst of war-like situations. The lyrics narrate a personal struggle between who the singer was before the war and who they became after it. The song starts with a flashback of the singer as a lover before war, enjoying luxury and freedom, which faded away once the war started. The singer describes how he had to hide behind barricades, and now that he has "cleaned up and gone legit," he still doesn't fit in with the new ways. The lyrics seemingly suggest that the singer is still trying to find his place in a society that has changed drastically since the war, where the system isn't quite the same as before.
As the song advances, the singer describes how he has started playing with himself by creating a clone, leading to moments of seduction that happen when they're alone. The singer then goes on to talk about how he has adapted to this new lifestyle, but only because he's forced to. The lyrics suggest that he's not content with having to be boxed in by his surroundings. The singer mentions being a part of a priest class - this implies that there was a particular group or group of people who could propagate religion and commerce together. The singer seems to have walked out of being a part of this class, and the effect that experience had on him is clear in the lyrics.
TV on the Radio's "I Was A Lover" aims to bring forth the underlying human desires that might fester in war-like situations. The song talks about individuals who're trying to create something new and who're trying to find solace in personal reflections. It's about understanding what's going on rather than just accepting the changes around you.
Line by Line Meaning
I was a lover, before this war
I used to be someone who loved before this conflict began.
Held up in a luxury suite, behind a barricaded door
I am now sheltering in a posh room, protected by a barrier.
Now that I've cleaned up, gone legit
After coming to my senses and changing my ways, I am now lawful.
I can see clearly: round hole
I am have regained my clarity: a circular gap.
Round whole, square peg don't fit
However, a round gap won't accommodate a rectangular piece.
I'm locked in my bedroom, so send back the clowns
I am confined to my chamber, so I request to dispatch the jesters.
My clone wears a brown shirt, and I seduce him when there's no one around
My identical self is clothed in brown, and I am attracted to him only privately.
Mano why mano, on a bed of nails
We're engaging in a duel of equals under harsh conditions.
Bring it on like a storm, till I knock the wind out of his sails
Just like a tempest, I will challenge him until he is left deflated.
And we don't make eye contact, when we have run-in's in town
We avoid looking at each other during our encounters in public.
Just a barely polite nod, and nervous stares towards the ground
We barely acknowledge each other with a respectful nod and shy glances downward.
I once joined a priest class, plastic, inert
I was formerly a member of a religious order, fake and immovable.
In a slowdance with commerce
I was involved in a paso doble with trade and profit.
Like a lens up a skirt
This was like peering from below up someone's dress with a telescope.
And we liked to party
We enjoyed having fun and going wild.
And we kept it live
We kept it real and fresh.
And we had a three volume tome of contemporary slang
We possessed a collection of the most current jargon in a three-book series.
To keep a handle on all this jive
To maintain a grasp on all this trendy talk.
Ennui unbridled, let's talk to kill the time
Uncontrollable boredom; let's chat to pass the time.
How many styles did you cycle through before you were mine?
How many attitudes did you try before being with me?
And it's been a while since we went wild and that's all fine
It's been some time since we've let loose, and that's okay.
But we're sleepwalking through this trial
However, we're just stumbling blindly through this test.
And it's really a crime
What we're doing is truly a sin.
it's really criminal
Our actions are simply unlawful.
We're just busy tempting, like fate's on the nod
We're consumed with courting danger as if fate is disinterested.
Running on empty, bourbon and god
We're depleted, fueled only by alcohol and faith.
It's been a while since we knew the way
We've lost our bearings and haven't known the right path in a while.
And it's been even longer since our plastic priest class
Moreover, it's been even longer since we've heard from the phony religious group.
Had a goddamned thing to say
They had nothing meaningful to contribute whatsoever.
Lyrics © DistroKid, BMG Rights Management, Capitol CMG Publishing, Peermusic Publishing, WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BABATUNDE OMOROGA ADEBIMPE, DAVID ANDREW SITEK, DAVID KYP JOEL MALONE, GERARD ANTHONY SMITH, JALEEL BUNTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Allison White
I haven’t heard this song years. I almost, ALMOST forgot how good it is.
Danielle MacQuarrie
I had half a lyric stuck in my head the last few months.. I just rediscovered this song, and I feel so much peace right now!
Sarah White
Right?!
Ryan
If Smile is Brian Wilson’s teenage symphony to god, Cookie Mountain is the symphony that gets released when you open some ancient Egyptian tomb with a curse on it. It’ll kill us all but it’s totally worth it.
Dan Rumack
this album restructured my life, formative brilliance.
Sarah White
"Return to Cookie Mountain" is not not just an excellent album, but a true moment of accepting prog-rock, synth, rap, whathaveyou
Sarah White
This song popped into my brain the other day, and I'm reminded why "Return to Cookie Mountain" is exemplary. Also, why every dang song is just the best.
Godfrey Liarson
I saw them at moedown I either 2011 or 12. Idk why but the audience was throwing glowsticks at the lead singer. He was untouchable! I thought it was because everyone wanted to try to make contact vicariously, but damn, If it wasn't the best game of dodgeball i ever saw.
Drageadroth
Always will love this song and TV on the Radio. Agh.
andthefatman
This song will have no years on it.