As the Oakland-based duo Tune-Yards, Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner are out with danceable and political songs in their new, sixth studio album called Better Dreaming. Over the past 15 years, they’ve written a lot of songs about racism, gender, and white privilege. But this new record aims to inspire political change.
“This is such a time of horror and grief, and the kids are not all right,” Garbus tells KCRW. “Kids in Gaza are not all right. Kids in Congo are not all right. Kids in Sudan are not all right. There's no way that this feels good. And I guess that's what Tune-yards has honestly been all about the whole time. … We all need to put one foot in front of the other, and make change, and make a difference in ourselves and in the world. And so we're gonna need a soundtrack to that.”
Garbus says she always relies on music to keep her going — through frequent episodes of depression and anxiety.
“When I wake up in the morning, what do I have to work through in order to keep going through the day, and have the music be about that, instead of sidestepping that. … For me, it makes a difference to have there be music that reflects what I'm concerned about.”
The new album’s first track, “Heartbreak,” reflects Garbus’ agony around her Jewish heritage amid the war in Gaza.
She explains, “I felt and feel and am working through a lot of shame around being Jewish. And I would say about these things that are being done in my name, if I'm identifying as a Jewish person, and then to feel such shame and then such distancing from the State of Israel. But that has also been … for a lot of American Jews, like, ‘Oh, but at least we're not Israel.’ And I've distanced myself from Israel for a long time. … I've lived a lot of my life … closing my eyes to the Palestinian experience. … Being an American Jew … we have a position of power, which is why I've been really looking to Jewish Voice for Peace, the organization, as a way to not be ashamed of my Judaism and not be ashamed of where I come from.”
“Get Through” is a song that Garbus says she particularly needs.
“There's this level of compartmentalization that I find I have to do that is very uncomfortable for a person like myself, who has really tried to be in my feelings and give voice to my feelings, and lots of therapy, and 12-step programs. … I think there's a level of just surrender that there's only so much I have room for, in myself and in a day,” she explains. “I love that there are a couple of songs on this record that … are relaxed and they're soothing in a way that I have really needed these days.”
The title track, “Better Dreaming,” is about the American Dream and asking ourselves what we do now, Garbus says. “This is where this got us, and here's where this continues to get us. So what about a better dream?”
In the middle of the song, the harmonies break apart and the tempo changes. Garbus says this is because she wants to “give a sound to my nightmares and have that be the bridge of the song.”
Throughout Tune-Yards’ work is a “punk, DIY spirit,” she points out, emphasizing the importance of “hardcore kids” who influenced her.
With the song “How Big Is The Rainbow,” Garbus says she’s always wanted “more room in the rainbow” and felt “between” in her sexuality and gender.
“I always felt like I didn't quite fit in. And I want a world where everybody fits.”