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Feb 25, 2019 Web Exclusive By Lee Adcock

For an intellectual, the most difficult part about falling in love is the falling part—yielding control, committing to one bed, dropping anchor in someone else. And perhaps, as sister act TEEN demonstrate on their third album Good Fruit, that’s why breakups ache, even the ones that should’ve happened years ago—we put some work into defying our miserly instincts. With neon-bright synth pop that oscillates between retro and modern, the trio guides us through a journey from star-crossed dependency to cool detachment, where both sides ring with jubilation.

Of course, the Lieberson sisters already proved their knack at writing catchy and clever synth-pop with 2016’s Love Yes. But the contemporary sheen on tunes like rave-ready “Only Water” fits in well with TEEN’s sultry MO. Indeed, this libido-affirming anthem sits in a neat parallel to the Santigold-like sprint of “Runner” on the flip, which cheers on women who can end engagements on their own terms. Good Fruit is one of those cinematic events where the tracklisting really matters—especially “Connection,” the Kate Bush-esque pivot point where our protagonist shifts mid-song from yearning for companionship to questioning everything: “what does it even mean, connecting you to me?” (There’s also a bit of stereotypically suave sax toward the end, which folds in much more smoothly this time than on the last album, where isolated solos hung between songs.)

With Good Fruit, TEEN promise to deliver pop bangers while still weaving nuance into the old breakup story. And for the most part, the Lieberson sisters succeed; from the residual longing in “Radar,” to the jaded epiphany of “Pretend,” we get to see the many phases of a bright mind in flux. Troubled lovers might find TEEN’s world a bit too idealized to relate to—but then again, for an intellectual, music is almost always easier to succumb to than any real partner. (www.teentheband.net)

Author rating: 7/10