TV on the Radio frontman and Star Wars actor Tunde Adebimpe delivers a slice of slanted and enchanted indie
TV on the Radio are no longer a going concern but frontman Tunde Adebimpe has just released his debut solo album. Thee Black Boltz retains much of the eclecticism that made his old band so appealing to those who like their indie slanted and enchanted. Even at a mere 35 minutes long, there's a cornucopia of ideas and genres.
Adebimpe, whose varied career includes stop-motion animation and acting (his latest TV gig is Star Wars: Skeleton Crew) is a compelling presence on these 11 songs. The urgent Magnetic, all fuzzy guitars and synths, finds him 'thinking about the human race in the age of tenderness and rage' while the stark, arresting Drop is a beatbox masterclass.
A jaunty giddiness characterises many of the songs, but it is clear that pain is being exorcised. The playful, upbeat stylings of God Knows cannot disguise the fact that he's singing about a relationship that's gone badly awry. 'God knows you're the worst thing I've ever loved/ You're bad news but we've still got to have our fun.'
And, on the tender ballad ILY, he sings about his younger sister who died during the pandemic. It's heartbreaking: 'Tell me that the end is not the end.' Co-written with the album's producer Wilder Zoby — who is probably best known for his collaborations with hip-hop duo Run the Jewels — it's the album's most conventionally structured song, but once heard, difficult to forget.
Unlike TV on the Radio, Beirut are still going, but then that act was all about the talents of Zach Condon rather than a grouping of like-minded subversives. Condon's first couple of (Balkans-inspired) albums coincided with Adebimpe's band's much heralded early run and, despite the odd wobble, he's kept the quality high.
His latest, A Study of Losses, is typically unconventional. Commissioned by a Swedish acrobatic troupe — of all things — it features 11 songs and seven instrumentals. Sophisticated, textured arrangements elevate the likes of Forest Encyclopaedia, which features Condon's sombre, sorrowful singing.
A highlight, Caspian Tiger, has a hymnal quality, a wonderful vocal delivery, and a confluence of strings, artfully arranged by Clarice Jensen, artistic director of the American Contemporary Music Ensemble.
It's an album to get lost in.
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