The Radio Dept.
Clinging to a scheme
Labrador
To be completely honest, The Radio Dept. have never previously overwhelmed me, not in the way many friends and critics have been. This isn't to say I think they've been hyped into popularity, but their albums have often engaged me for a few weeks and then been shelved, only pulled out occasionally to listen to the two or three songs that really sunk in. "Clinging to a scheme", however, is a different beast -- for me, it is the album their previous efforts more than betrayed they were capable of: an amalgamation of the lively and charming tone of "Lesser matters" and the ambience of "Pet grief", yet surpassing them both. While this newest work finds the band in more explorative territory, it is a focused effort that maintains The Radio Dept.'s signature atmospherics despite the more adventurous tone of the record: "Domestic scene" is a near-perfect introduction to the album with its layers of languid guitars and synthesizers overlying a constant, driving beat, a tact subtly reminiscent of Doves; despite the spoken word opening (an irksome quirk that is used again a few minutes into "Never follow suit"), "Heaven's on fire" is one of the album's highlights, a strange union of The Radio Dept.'s talents with "Writer's block"-era Peter Bjorn and John's pop sensibility; and "Never follow suit" takes a few pages from The Tough Alliance's playbook, translating those mischievous tendencies and working them seamlessly into the track. While The Radio Dept. may have branched out and sped things up a little on this newest album, there is nothing that compromises the band's unique take on pop music; if anything, "Clinging to a scheme" acts as a tableau of where The Radio Dept. has been, all while elevating the band to this new peak. "The video dept." is wonderfully nostalgic of the finest lo-fi moments of "Lesser matters" and the already praised "Domestic scene" could almost have been on "Pet grief", were it a more somber affair. One of the finest qualities of the album is the fact that it isn't as solemn as much of The Radio Dept.'s catalogue, and yet remains just as personal and poignant. Suffice it to say, "Clinging to a scheme" isn't getting shelved anytime soon.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
