I was a sophomore in High School when the coolest song I ever heard was “Hatari” by tUne-yArDs. The song opens with layered vocal fry. A cosmic yodeling, of Native American and African influence. A riff from a fuzz guitar sounds like Indian raga. The final piece comes with a fat beat of looped floor tom and snare, adding arrhythmic hip-hop to this melting-pot track.
I was proud to play it loudly in the halls. I would then impress everyone (no one) by sharing that it was all created by just one person. And not only was it created by just one person, but she is a white woman from Connecticut.
Merrill Garbus has grown up since her BiRd-BrAiNs days, recording loops on cassette decks. She has even dropped stylizing every-other capital letter (which I appreciate as I write this).
Tune-Yards has recruited new collaborators and touring members. The effect has bridged bizarre indie and mainstream music by means of synthesizers. On her own, Garbus is established among modern classical composers; she is a friend and collaborator of Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw.
I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life is both the most experimental and most accessible album from the band. Most tracks are party boppers. “Look At Your Hands” is a contender for the socially conscious hipster dance anthem.
Themes of social consciousness and self-awareness have become ubiquitous in Garbus’s writing. Over chip-tune electronic beats, Garbus is poignant on her platform. In “Colonizer”, she intonates “I use my white woman’s voice to tell stories of travels with African men.” These are the same compelling stories we have always heard from Tune-Yards.
King of Malta 