Tune-Yards, the dynamic duo of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner, share details of their sixth studio album, Better Dreaming, out 16 May on standard vinyl, limited edition vinyl and CD via 4AD. The album showcases some of their most effortlessly groove-filled music in their career.
To kick off this new era, Tune-Yards unveiled the infectious single, ‘Limelight’. The song was born from dancing together as a family to George Clinton, and Garbus and Brenner’s 3-year-old can be heard singing on the track.
Garbus reflects on the new track: “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’.”
PRAISE FOR TUNE-YARDS
“Fizzing with a creative fire.” – Uncut
“Social conscience with feelgood entertainment.” – The Guardian
“Confrontational, boundary-bending, enigmatic, topical, and sheer fun.” – The Line of Best Fit
“Fluid and full of surprises.” – The Sunday Times
“Songs splatter unpredictably with little concern for cohesion, forming a whole that is emphatically unique.” – NME
“Surreal.” – Rolling Stone
“Beyond the bright melodies and playful rhythms, she’s constantly challenging narratives, interrogating systems and piercing her own privilege.” – Loud And Quiet
Tune-Yards – ‘Limelight’
Official Video by Jayla Smith
More on Better Dreaming
Distraction, depression, and heartbreak reign supreme in 2025. “Making art in this day and age for me is a battle for focus; we’re in an age of interruption,” says Garbus of Tune-Yards’ sixth album Better Dreaming. Proudly waving an anti-fascist, liberation, freak flag, Better Dreaming contains some of Tune-Yards smoothest, funkiest, and most direct pop music to date, and yes, you can dance to it. And when you do dance to it, be prepared to sweat out something that’s been long stuck inside, and pretty deep down.
The songs of Better Dreaming came to Garbus and Brenner with unusual ease. They asked themselves what would happen if they simply let the songs come out, following any trail they wished – first thought, best thought style. There was a strong desire to move, to make music that would enter the ear and immediately loosen up the joints, get the whole body wiggling. After covid-isolation, and time away from touring and live shows, the desire to be moved by music was undeniable. The insane experience of growing an actual human being influenced this as well.
The rhythms throughout the record carry a certain freshness, with deep pockets full of subtle idiosyncrasies that stem from Tune-Yards’ return to making an album primarily as a duo. All but one of these songs are built around Garbus’ drum looping and rhythm building, as they were on some of the early albums like Bird-Brains and W H O K I L L – no full kit drummer here, and the songs love it.
Better Dreaming is ferocious in its invocation of self-love, of collective action, of dance floor liberation, ego-death deliverance, and a future we could all thrive in. When diving into the present darkness of the world, Tune-Yards asks themselves how much literal energy and joy can be conjured and pumped through the music. In its life-affirming art-pop of the apocalypse, Better Dreaming comes true.
Better Dreaming is out on 16 May on all digital platforms, CD, standard black vinyl and clear blue wave vinyl (indie retail only). For more information, and to pre-order, head HERE
Tune-Yards – Better Dreaming
4AD0812
16 May 2025
Tracklist:
1. Heartbreak
2. Swarm
3. Never Look Back
4. Suspended
5. Limelight
6. Get Through
7. Better Dreaming
8. How Big Is The Rainbow
9. See You There
10. Perpetual Motion
11. Sanctuary
