Where to begin. I don’t think I even have the ridiculous vocabulary that seems to be necessary to write a proper review of TV On The Radio’s new album, “Dear Science”. I’ve never seen such a wide variety of adjectives used to describe a collection of songs. In a sentence – it’s a masterpiece.

TVOTR’s last LP, “Return To Cookie Mountain” virtually defined the term ‘widespread critical acclaim’; but despite the vast hype surrounding the release, I simply did not like it. Believe me - I really tried to love this record; but at the end of the day, I just don’t think I understood it. That isn’t to say that I didn’t find any redeeming qualities in it. ”Return To Cookie Mountain’s“ lead single, Wolf Like Me, was easily one of the best songs of the year, and there were moments of absolute brilliance throughout the rest of the album. Still, as a whole, the record just didn’t do it for me.

“Dear Science” has probably been the most anticipated record of 2008; and no one was more eager to give it a spin than me. At the very least, I was determined to understand why everyone loved this band so much. Well, falling in love with “Dear Science” was absolutely effortless. It’s much more accessible than its predecessor, yet is still able to maintain the unparalleled ingenuity and charm that diehard TVOTR fans gushed over with ”Return To Cookie Mountain”. This record is going to have a much easier time reaching a wider audience, no doubt to the dismay of longtime fans who will be forced to share their favorite band. I’m not going to label this the best album of the year just yet, but it will almost certainly have a spot in my top 5.

To give you an idea of how important this band may be to the current direction popular indie music is taking, TVOTR guitarist/producer Dave Sitek was recently ranked #1 on NME’s (a popular UK music magazine) ‘future 50 list of the most forward-thinking people in music today’. That is EXACTLY what “Dear Science” is: forward-thinking. You will hear sounds on this record that you won’t find anywhere else. That’s a promise.

Check out the album’s opening track, Halfway Home, below, and then immediately go sample/buy the rest of the album here (iTunes). Oh, and be prepared to dance.

p.s. Nickelback also released a new single a couple of days ago. Somewhere the 14-year old boy inside of me is beaming with excitement.