TV On The Radio’s last album with original bassist/producer Gerard Smith, Nine Types Of Light, came out in 2011, just before Smith’s death from lung cancer. In the intervening years, the band acrimoniously parted ways with Interscope, with the intention of recording new material informally and releasing singles on member Dave Sitek’s label Federal Prism “until an album seems possible.”
Now the band has released their first new song since that announcement and is streaming “Mercy” on SoundCloud. The band previewed the song live when it curated All Tomorrow’s Parties back in May, and in Kyp Malone remarked to the Huffington Post that another song, “Million Miles,” has also been recorded and that “The new songs…came to fruition with such ease that it felt like an invitation to get back to this good work.” That sounds like a new album might not be too far off.