Tune-Yards

Sketchy. 4AD. CD/DL/LP

Further evidence of oncelacking “tunes” emerges in Tune-Yards’ sound.

Initially a solo vehicle for New York’s singer/ drummer Merrill Garbus, before morphing into a duo with the addition of bassist Nate Brenner, Tune-Yards, like Dirty Projectors, have specialised in a cut-up art funk whose freneticism is sometimes a bit much. After becoming a shade more accessible on 2018’s I Can Feel You Creep Into

My Private Life, they continue the trend with Sketchy, built up by initially eschewing computers in favour of groovesome live jams. In the soaringly poppy Hold Yourself, Garbus examines the legacy of imperfect parenting, while Nowhere, Man gets on the good foot with – like a number of the tracks here – variations on the Funky Drummer beat. Ultimately, by opening up melodically as well as rhythmically, Garbus and Brenner better reveal the big heart at the centre of Tune-Yards.