This week saw the release of one of my favourite albums of the year – BiRd-BrAiN by tUnE-yArDs. It’s a difficult album to describe. In it’s root, it’s the sort of lofi folk that I seem to have become obsessed with over the past year – but there is so much more going on in this release. There are some brilliant nods towards hip hop, electronica, afrobeat, and gospel amongst all sorts of other fantastic homemade sounds and beats. Merrill Garbus’ voice is stunning, and she opted to knock out all of her vocal tracks on a cheap digital voice recorder, then mixed the album using free software. The result is a ukele-driven folk album with beats and basslines that are guaranteed to upset my neighbours for many months to come. All of my favourite musical worlds have collided, and I couldn’t be happier. Touches of Soko, a little Micachu, a splash of Four Tet, and a whole lot of awesome. An absolute masterpiece.
- Chris