After the mixed instrumentation of 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and the inconsistent yet polished Gimme Fiction, Austin, TX quartet Spoon have released their best album since 2002's Kill the Moonlight.
Transference with its more minimalistic, rawer approach is refreshing in today's over produced musical environment. Spoon have produced Transference themselves, allowing many of the songs to have the feel of a demo. Lead single, "Got Nuffin", released six months prior to Transference being dropped, hinted at the stripped-back nature of the album.
Not only does the music seem rawer but the songwriting appears more willing to show emotional insecurity than the previous two albums. Transference is a Freudian term used to describe when a patient develops a romantic attachment to their analyst, mistaking the intimacy of that relationship for actual love. "The Mystery Zone" is the greatest example of this with its sense of longing to find real love but having no idea about what it is or where to find it. "Written in Reverse", with its bashed keys and snarled, bitter vocals about the dying stages of a relationship, is the fiercest Spoon has sounded since "Jonathan Fisk" off the aforementioned Kill the Moonlight. Some, however, may feel that the music lacks balls, but balls aren't just about loud guitar riffs, it can mean having the balls to expose your vulnerable neurosis.
Some who have enjoyed the production and pop-sensibilities of the past few albums may be disappointed, believing only "pretentious art-house wankers" will enjoy this album. Perhaps I am just that, for I feel that while Transference isn't Spoon's best album, it's pretty damn close.
Key Tracks: "Is Love Forever", "The Mystery Zone", "Written in Reverse"
4/5
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