Transference is an interesting departure for Spoon.
Gone and buried are most of the bands poppier impulses- well, buried as deep as the usually effortlessly catchy band is capable of.
But Transference is all about songs that simmer along but never really explode, subtle production touches that warp and guide the music in unexpected directions. Vocals reverb out of nowhere, briefly overwhelm, and then cut straight out.
There's hardly a solo to be heard, with Daniels content to merely pound chord progessions into your brain with a single-minded punk ferocity unseen in his music since Spoon's earlier days.
But that's not to say this album is a throwback.
Spoon ventures boldly into new territory on this album, building, and improving upon, the atmospheric 'The Ghost of You Lingers' from 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.' It's no coincidence that that was also Daniels favourite song from the last record, as the longest and most important tracks on this CD share a similar slowly unwinding mentality.
That's not to say Transference is all quasi-minimalist pop rock.'Written In Reverse' is a gutsy blues-comp that Daniels has probably been wanting to write all his life, and 'Nobody Gets me But You' and 'Who Makes Your Money' are Spoon at their hooky and quirky best, while the previously released single 'Got Nuffin' continues to circle my brain almost daily.
But Transference is definitely sign of a shift within the band, and, in my opinion, after a few listens comes off as probably their strongest whole album next to the seminal 'Gimme Fiction'.
It's a bit off-kilter, but they sell it with so much confidence and sincerity that you can't help but feel this is exactly the album they wanted to make.