Tune-Yards’ ‘I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life’ Proves Infectiously Fun (ALBUM REVIEW)

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Tune-Yards and driving force Merril Garbus have always done two things very well, experiment with sound and style to undeniably innovative results and produce whip-like commentary through the music’s wordplay. I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life is no different with Garbus, now officially joined by bassist Nate Brenner as a duo, freely playing with concepts of melody, rhythm and structure as she boldly unpacks and critiques the uncertain world of today. It sees Garbus somewhat take the role of a circus performer; great fun and achieving remarkable results but at times struggling to keep the unicycle balanced on the wire while keeping all the balls in the air as she tries to successfully contain her myriad ideas, influences and thoughts all in one package.

It’s a record for the times, with Garbus saying as much as she desired to “resonate with what was going on in the world”. With sharp and insightful witticisms she explores ideas of identity in race and gender and what freedom looks like in the modern world. ‘ABC 123’ and ‘Colonizer’ ask real questions of what it means to be white and privileged and how people can use that power as Garbus laments “I ask myself ‘what should I do?’ but all i know is white centrality” while she uses her “white woman’s voice” to do everything from “tell stories of travels with African men” to “contextualise acts of white woman friends”. She might not provide answers but she certainly asks interesting questions, her thoughts provoking desire for change as they vaguely reference sinister powers that “creep into our private life” and “sell us water of our own land”. It remarkable condenses difficult ideas into bite sized chunks.

At its very best, the record is an infectiously fun and creative explosion of matter. Garbus’ playful melodies often bely the gravity of her words as her voice meanders between stuttering gunshot beats and layered electronic loops. Inspired by Haitian and Kenyan music, these influences seep into the pores of these tracks. Garbus’ voice on the likes of ‘Now and Then’ and ‘Free’ often resembles great soul artists while the hollow percussion and mantra-like repeated chants in ‘Heart Attack’ and ‘Hammer’ pay clear tribute to where Garbus’ ideas are stemming from. Meanwhile ‘Look at Your Hands’ draws from and serves well as an 80s synth-dance track blended with modern pop as the album grasps and flings its wide range of ideas in quick-fire succession. Beats start and stop, opening up room for new motifs and the ever-evolving bass-lines of Brenner before cutting them short again. It’s constant hyperactivity and the scope and ambition of it is very impressive.

The danger, however, lies in how full you can fill a balloon until it bursts. “I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life” is packed with constant and changing thoughts and ideas that at times it makes it a difficult listen. It’s a scattered record – and it may well be intended to be – but the sensory overload it delivers makes it hard work. Garbus’ desire to constantly innovate and find new ways to say what she feels she needs to should be applauded, and music does not always need to be easy to listen to. But it’s hard to fully absorb a piece of work – especially one that has so much to say – when there is no coherent idea or theme running through it. For all its moments, Private Life could do with a little restraint from time to time.

Nevertheless, on the whole the focus should remain on the positives. Few artists are pushing the boundaries of what music is in the modern environment in the way Garbus and Tune-Yards are, and to find space with that for genuinely insightful reflections on the world is a remarkable feat. Genuine creativity is something that should always be encouraged, and while Garbus and co. could perhaps ensure they seek to better contain the deluge of creativity they poor out – at least a little bit – let’s hope there is still plenty more to come.

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