Good Fruit

Album review

With each album, TEEN have pruned and honed their music to get rid of anything that might stand in the way of their ambitious sounds and emotive words. The trimming culminates on Good Fruit, which brings Teeny, Lizzie, and Katherine Lieberson's songs into brilliant, moving focus. On their fourth album, the mix of synth pop and R&B that emerged on The Way and Color and blossomed on Love Yes now sounds ripe, particularly on "Shadow" and "Popular Taste," which strikes the right balance between sleek and cheeky with its ping-ponging keyboards and choppy samples and upholds the band's tradition of killer opening tracks. This is TEEN's first album with only the Lieberson sisters in the lineup -- longtime member Boshra AlSaadi departed during the making of Good Fruit to concentrate on her own music -- and the band's kinship extends to how united and organic these songs are. The Liebersons find ways to create and move on in the face of painful and sometimes necessary losses ranging from breakups to the loss of family members: "Only Water" celebrates the enduring connection they have to their father, whom they lost to lymphoma in 2011, with surging, hopeful synths and harmonies. When they explore what comes after Love Yes' happily ever afters, the results are just as honest and complex. On "Runner," Teeny sounds ecstatic about leaving behind a lover who wants more, manages to be sensual and questioning at the same time on "Connection," and realizes a relationship is truly over on the raw finale, "Pretend": "Somehow you find a way to disappoint me/I think it's time to let go finally." And while the feminist side of TEEN's music has always been prominent, it's never been more relevant than at the time of Good Fruit's release in 2019. The way Lizzie's "Radar" delicately captures the lingering poison of long-ago assault makes it all the more unsettling -- and all the more fitting for the #MeToo era. Conversely, on "Putney," the Liebersons' deceptively sweet harmonies add an extra sting as they skewer unrealistic male fantasies. While TEEN have covered all of this ground before, this is some of their most cohesive and satisfying music. As its title implies, Good Fruit is the result of thriving after hardship, and its sense of accomplishment is especially sweet.

© Heather Phares /TiVo