THE ANTLERS — GREEN TO GOLD TUNE-YARDS — SKETCHY

AS THE days grow longer and sunnier, The Antlers provide the soundtrack to the better times ahead with their luminous sixth studio album, Green To Gold.

The cover shows golden sunlight and a silhouetted tree, and instrumental opener Strawflower starts with some nine seconds of silence, before reverb, then a drum beat, and acoustic guitar.

Another pastoral instrumental, Equinox, fading into silence, closes the album, and these two tracks act as bookends for a celebration of the seasons.

Band leader Peter Silberman sings “This is the first day our friend is free from pain, voyaging on, while the rest of us remain” in It Is With It Is, accepting the inevitability of change. With Green To Gold, Silberman set out to make “Sunday morning music”, sounds at peace with himself and has created a lowkey triumph. 8/10

(Review by Matthew George)

BACK after a couple of years to rediscover their love of making and performing music, Tune-yards hit hard on this fifth album.

Setting Merrill Garbus’ soulful vocals against broken electronic beats and heavy percussion, the album unflinchingly tackles deep themes of gender equality, climate change and race — the duo have been open in examining their debt to black music.

That said, a surface-level listen offers up a funky, danceable set of tunes offering something for everyone.

Starting and finishing strongly with Nowhere, Man and Be Not Afraid, another highlight comes in the form of the furious Homewrecker while the decision to insert a one-minute silent track Silence pt. 2 (Who Is ‘We’?) in the middle of the album is an unconventional but arresting move. 7/10

(Review by Tom White)