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/
You Could Be Love
TV on the Radio Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To some bright holy light from above
You could bravely be the first to spill this vile demon's blood
Oh, you could, you could
You could keep your best reasons
In empty bottles, behind locked doors
You could be the contents of 100 tiny plastic bags
Emptied onto dirty kitchen tables
Oh, late night, late night
You could be love
You could be held so warm
In these arms
In these arms
You could be held aloft
So strong, So strong
You could be invited to invent a new whole language
Devoid of all its current deathly pain and suffering
You could be darkness
You could be so so dark
Forever folding in, folding in yourself
Totally disappearing
Still you could get lost
You could be love
You could be held so warm
In these arms
In these arms
You could be held aloft
So soft, So strong
*Humming and hollering noises*
The lyrics to TV on the Radio's song "You Could Be Love" are a mix of introspective musings and hopeful statements about the potential for love and light within oneself. The first stanza is particularly striking, as it presents a choice between surrendering to something greater or actively fighting against darkness ("spilling this vile demon's blood"). The mention of "empty bottles" and "tiny plastic bags" hints at substance abuse issues, which may tie into the idea of surrendering or fighting against one's own demons. The second stanza takes a more positive turn, suggesting that one could create something entirely new and free of pain and suffering. The line "you could be darkness" is especially intriguing, as it suggests that darkness is not something to be feared or avoided but rather embraced as a part of oneself. The chorus repeats the phrase "you could be love", reinforcing the idea that love is something that one can choose to embody and hold onto, even when things feel dark or difficult. The song ends with a series of wordless vocalizations, which add to its dreamy, introspective mood.
Line by Line Meaning
You could say I surrender on all fours
I admit defeat and submit to a higher power.
To some bright holy light from above
This higher power is often associated with religious imagery.
You could bravely be the first to spill this vile demon's blood
You have the potential to defeat your inner demons and take control of your life.
You could keep your best reasons
You may have valid reasons for your actions or decisions.
In empty bottles, behind locked doors
But you hide them away and keep them to yourself.
You could be the contents of 100 tiny plastic bags
You are made of many different aspects that may seem small or insignificant on their own.
Emptied onto dirty kitchen tables
But when you bring them all together they can create something beautiful and meaningful.
You could be love
You have the potential to be a source of love and affection.
You could be held so warm
You could experience love and warmth from others.
In these arms
This love could come from a significant other or someone close to you.
You could be held aloft
You could also feel empowered and lifted up.
So strong, So strong
You have the potential to be strong and resilient.
You could be invited to invent a new whole language
You have the ability to create and innovate.
Devoid of all its current deathly pain and suffering
This creation could bring about positive change and healing.
You could be darkness
You also have the potential to embody darkness and negativity.
You could be so so dark
This darkness can consume you from within.
Forever folding in, folding in yourself
You may feel trapped and isolated, suffocating under the weight of your own negative emotions.
Totally disappearing
You may feel like you are losing yourself and your sense of identity.
Still you could get lost
Despite these negative feelings, there is still potential for hope and change.
So soft, So strong
You have the potential to be gentle and caring, while also being strong and resilient.
Contributed by Riley M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.