There’s a moment during “See You There”, the ninth song on Tune-Yards’ sixth studio album, Better Dreaming, when singer Merrill Garbus screams, “You said I’m going to hell, well, I’ll see you there!” The a cappella ending has the overmodulated line glitching to the point of almost immediately burning itself out. While not overtly political, with moments like this, in addition to entire songs, like “Swarm” and “Never Look Back”, it’s obvious that the frightening ideological climate in America has had a profound effect on the duo’s latest release.
In addition to oftentimes utilizing a rhythm not dissimilar to that of Anna Kendrick’s “Cups” song from the 2012 film Pitch Perfect, Tune-Yards aficionados will, rightfully, point to singer Merrill Garbus’ powerful, direct vocals as an obvious identifier when it comes to recognizing one of the New Canaan, Connecticut project’s songs. Garbus’ affecting delivery is on full display during Better Dreaming’s glorious opener, “Heartbreak”. Although the song’s upbeat tone makes lyrics like, “You can’t erase someone, just ‘cause they broke your sun,” somewhat paradoxical, the brokenhearted will identify with the message.
“Baby’s alright, the kids are alright, the baby was up all night,” Merrill sings during the funky “Limelight”, a song that appropriately features sweet giggles and coos from Garbus and Brenner’s three-year-old. This is neither the first nor the last time the toddler makes an appearance on Better Dreaming, though, if this inclusion might be considered a turnoff, it’s worth mentioning that the ephemeral kinder-clips are kept to a minimum and tend to appear between tracks. The soulful bassline and all-in chorus on the politically allusive “Get Through” grounds the song nicely, delivering a feeling of hopefulness amidst the world’s chaos. Meanwhile, the bassline on Better Dreaming’s title track comes across as sneaky and subversive, providing a sly foundation for Garbus to dig deep and push forcefully against vocally.
The production throughout Better Dreaming is consistently good, coming across as deceptively simple. “Perpetual Motion”, the record’s penultimate track, is a good example of this. Here, vocals are doubled then tripled while layer upon layer of instrumentation builds from what had, just two minutes prior, started as Garbus accompanied only by a roughly strummed, cheap-sounding acoustic guitar.
Better Dreaming is concluded with “Sanctuary”, a spoken word moment that flows profoundly over a stuttered polyrhythm. Garbus pushes herself to wildly jazzy heights while the lyrics, “We are not the weight we carry, clip the strings and float away, live inside a sanctuary, lose yourself to find your way,” are sung alongside the radiant denouement. Tune-Yards’ ideological leanings could have easily anchored their latest release to the present exclusively. Instead, by artfully sidestepping cultural identifiers, Better Dreaming smartly manages to be a record of its time but also one that will endure.
Rating: 8.0/10
