Tune-Yards' new album “Better Dreaming” is an exercise in deception. Each song is produced with bright, energized arrangements but the lyrics tell a completely different story.
Tune-Yards is the duo Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner who have been recording since 2009. With her soulful voice and his musical direction, their eclectic palette of songs runs the gambit of African, folk, electronica, rap and even classical music rhythms.
As joyful as the music sounds Garbus’ lyrics focus on the darker side of current events with songs about male abuse of authority, shame, and self-doubt. She sings with equal measures of abandon and outrage.
Full of pulsating energy and dance grooves, “Better Dreaming” is bursting with a joy that is impossible to resist. The album seems designed to have a delayed effect of the underlying meaning of the lyrics sinking in once the party is over.