Now that Spoon finally has everyone's attention (garnering a Top 10 album with 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga), they can really indulge in their singular aesthetic and continue to play by their own idiosyncratic rules on their splendid but inconsistent new record, Transference. The record takes a while to fully engage, easing the listener into the often dark moods of the album before finally unleashing the familiar Spoon sound a few songs in. And while the album features many musical departures for the band, they seem oddly restrained during a lot of Transference, which creates an uneasy tension that never fully resolves itself. There are moments of subtle grandeur tarnished a bit by studio tricks and occasionally heavy handed production (which the band handled themselves this time, instead of the accustomed touch of Mike McCarthy), causing front man Britt Daniel's vocals to cut out or drop off before he fully expresses his thoughts. Perhaps that is the point of the record, after all, to lead you to your own resolution just as Daniel is searching for his. And that's ultimately the underlying tenor of the record-a yearning for a place to go, a need to have someone or something waiting for you after the din of the day. And those types of issues aren't easily resolved, especially on a rock record.The album opens with the mournful 'Before Destruction,' which features Daniel's distant acoustic guitar over his desolate lyrics: "Everyone loves you for your black eye." This alludes to a theme that is threaded throughout the record, that of being admired for your failings above all else. Spoon have long been thought of as musical underdogs, and it seems like that label is finally starting to grate on Daniel a bit. Transference, the bands seventh studio record, sounds like his attempt at breaking free from those low expectations, but it's a shame that early on it doesn't sound like the band is trying all that hard. 'Is Love Forever' seems to be stalled in its demo stage, never fully realizing the promise or potency of its rough genesis. And 'The Mystery Zone,' while confident and catchy, just drones on for far too long, featuring a coda that seems forced and out of place. The album doesn't truly catch fire until 'Who Makes Your Money,' a keyboard driven funk-fest that features heavy vibrato effects on Daniel's vocals, Robert Pope's indelible bass line which keeps the song churning, and Jim Eno's tense, atypical drumming. Finally the record finds its way into the fast lane.Given how sedate the start of Transference is, the messy discord of lead single 'Written In Reverse' proves to be quite jarring, and injects a welcome breath of energy into an album that desperately needed it. Daniel's electric guitar is finally fully unleashed on 'Reverse,' and, when combined with the superb, jazzy plunk of the piano, proves to be quite a lethal combination, finally giving the album some swagger and spirit. You just have to wonder why it took so long. It reminds me of the last time I saw Spoon play live-they fashioned their set list to run in chronological order, so nearly an hour into the show, they had yet to play anything from the new record. But by that time, they were hitting on all cylinders, and when they finally played the new songs, they took on an added vitality and zeal. So, by the halfway point of the record, Spoon are finally warmed up. Even though this creates a heavily backloaded album, it still works, because they are Spoon after all.'Trouble Comes Running' is bristling with dynamic exuberance, and sounds like it could've been recorded in your living room, or at the very least, Britt's living room. Typically, once an album has built up this type of unstoppable momentum, this would be the worst possible place for a band to finally try out a piano-ballad. But 'Goodnight Laura' is successful not only because it's simply a lovely song, but it also represents a drastic but welcome shift in tone and tempo for the band, effectively ushering in the strong close to the album. It blends right in to the solemn, wistful 'Out Go The Lights,' whose understated elegance is not only a testament to Daniel's songwriting prowess but to his tasteful musical discretion as well. These songs could've easily strayed into the arena-anthem territory regularly mined by the Snow Patrols of the world, but in Spoon's capable hands, these songs hit home without straining for effect or needing you to hold your lighter in the air.The boys dust things up one last time with the rowdy grit of 'Got Nuffin,' a propulsive, cocksure rocker that clearly states Daniel's M.O. on Transference: 'I got nothin' to lose but darkness and shadows...bitterness and patterns...emptiness and hangups.' So don't worry about Britt, his life isn't hanging in the balance with the release of this album, but his D.N.A. is most assuredly all over these songs. There is a lonely, desperate urgency to a lot of these tracks, especially on the inscrutable album closer 'Nobody Gets Me But You,' and it's that stark, unvarnished austerity that allows this record to truly flourish. I just wish it didn't take the band so long to finally catch a spark, but ultimately there is a warmth that permeates through these songs, giving the album a lasting and fresh vitality that, when all is said and done, is unmistakably Spoon. There is, after all, only one. Accept no imitations.

Buy the album from Amazon | [itunes link="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/got-nuffin/id348997560?uo=4" title="Spoon-Transference_(Bonus_Track_Version)_(Album)" text="iTunes"]