Today, Tune-Yards, the dynamic duo consisting of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner, share details about their sixth studio album, ‘Better Dreaming‘, out May 16th via 4AD.
To kick off this new era, Tune-Yards unveiled the infectious single, ‘Limelight’, which premiered this morning on Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6 Music show. ‘Limelight’ features a special collaboration with Garbus and Brenner’s three-year-old, which was conceived when the family danced together to George Clinton. Garbus said of the latest single: “This one almost didn’t make it onto the album because it felt trite, especially given multiple genocides across the globe and the particular impact on children (the kids are not ‘alright’). But it kept coming back as people kept responding positively to it, in particular our own kid. Who am I to talk about getting free, about us all getting free“? Fannie Lou Hamer said, ‘Nobody’s free until everybody’s free’ and it feels vulnerable but important to see myself as part of that ‘everybody’.”
Distraction, depression and heartbreak rule in 2025. “Making art in this day and age for me is a battle for focus; we’re in an age of interruption,” Garbus says of Tune-Yards’ sixth album. ‘Better Dreaming’ features some of Tune-Yards’ smoothest, funkiest, most direct pop songs to date.
The songs on ‘Better Dreaming’ came surprisingly easily to Garbus and Brenner. They wondered what would happen if they just let the songs happen, without forcing them – a “first thought, best thought” approach. There was a strong urge to move, to make music that goes straight to the ear and loosens the joints, makes the whole body wobble. After Covid isolation and a period without touring or live performances, the need to move through music was undeniable. The intense experience of raising a human being also played a role.
The album’s rhythms feel fresh, with subtle, idiosyncratic touches that stem from Tune-Yards’ return to making albums as a duo. With the exception of one track, all of the songs are built around Garbus’ drum loops and rhythmic layers, much like on early albums like ‘Bird-Brains’ and ‘W H O K I L L’.
‘Better Dreaming’ is fierce in its call for self-love, collective action, liberation on the dance floor, the letting go of ego, and a future where we can all thrive. As Tune-Yards immerse themselves in the darkness of the present, they ask themselves: how much literal energy and joy can we summon and let flow through music?
Tracklist ‘Better Dreaming’
- Heartbreak
- Swarm
- Never Look Back
- Suspended
- Limelight
- Get Through
- Better Dreaming
- How Big Is The Rainbow
- See You There
- Perpetual Motion
- Sanctuary
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