When analyzing Seeds, TV on the Radio’s first album since their bassist/keyboardist Gerard Smith passed away in 2011, one can’t help but encapsulate the feeling that something is missing. This is an impression playing both to the advantage and disservice of the band’s fifth studio album.
An ongoing sense of emptiness in the album plays well into the empathy produced throughout each of the 12 tracks. Despite all the upbeat melodies found within Seeds, there’s always an underbelly of sorrow, confusion and pity. This is decidedly a more somber album for the band, playing as something of a reflection on loss and anguish. And yet, with each passing track, an acute hollowness is apparent, with the album becoming more generic and wishy-washy in its compositions as it enters its second half.
There are no bad tracks on Seeds, but there are rarely any really good ones either. The best of the bunch is “Test Pilot,” a song based on revival and the strength one must feel in a time of great loss obviously based on the passing of their fallen band mate. While its lyrics are a bit too on-the-nose, this uplifting track succeeds at creating something both catchy and impactful, blending well this new melancholy with the band’s traditional high-energy compositions.
On the other side of the spectrum, songs like “Ride” display the often-generic repetitiveness of Seeds. This specific example is made all the worse because not only does it start out so strong, but it also goes on for a much overstretched six-and-a-half minutes. Despite its more low-key feel, the album can’t help but feel constrictive by its simplistic conceptions. Even by the third track, there’s an ongoing sense of reiteration, both in its message and its song arrangements. That’s not to downplay some of the album’s stronger moments, though, including tunes like the catchy “Careful You,” a nicely cheeky play on words (care-for you), or “Lazerray,” a single more in line with the band’s past work, or the well-concentrated “Trouble.”
As their band name suggests, TV on the Radio always has been about streaming communication against the odds. And this album, while no where near as politically charged as their past work, continues this spirit. Despite the loss to their assemble, Seeds represents a permeable desire to continue forward, even against the obvious pressures to stop. In that sense, Seeds most certainly succeeds—no pun intended. It’s moody, but never brooding. Even with its darker current, it has a positive outlook stirring inside it.
That said, though, there’s something oddly forgettable and disposable about Seeds too. For even when it feels inspired, it never overcomes its shoulder-shrug compositions. It’s filled with songs mostly enjoyable, but never quite amble enough to earn a second or third play. While it doesn’t live up to their greatest work, like 2008’s Dear Science, this newest album still delivers on the band’s pressing desires to commence through their struggles and disadvantages in goodhearted fashion. At the end of the day, this is what TV on the Radio is all about.