The Radio Dept.
David
Labrador
Waiting for the next album by The Radio Dept. has been a tedious affair. First it was announced for September, then they pulled back at the last minute without much explanation, only to now, somewhat surprisingly, release this new EP. Generally, I've always found The Radio Dept. to be better at EPs than albums -- compare the longing "This past week"-EP or the stellar "Pulling our weight" for example. Unfortunately, "David" comes nowhere close to these classics. In fact, only the title track manages to combine catchiness with innovation, longing, and a popful dose of kitsch (though opinions on that may vary). The other songs, however, just can't live up to that level. Most are plain uninteresting and have a B-sidish feel. The remix of "David" is really interesting though, but the dramaturgy of it seems counter-intuitive: It only takes off after more than half the track and then doesn't dare to take its clever repetitiveness to the much-needed extreme. All in all, this really seems more the single it's intended to be than like a full-fledged EP. And though I'm still eager to hear "Clinging to a scheme" when it finally comes out, I'm not exactly getting my hopes up for a new "Lesser matters". But then again, who in their right minds would hope for that?
- Arnulf Köhncke
