Album Review: Tune-Yards, Sketchy

Two years on from their soundtrack for satirical sci-fi flick Sorry To Bother You, the art-pop hipster heroes are back with Sketchy. Inspired by disillusionment, despair and a good old-fashioned mid-life crisis, the talented twosome used Questlove’s Creative Quest and the Beastie Boys Book to feed their muse. Ditching screens and software in favour of working up a sweat with live instruments, the follow-up to 2018’s I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life is a fun-but-frustrating affair.

While there’s no denying the skills of Tune-Yards’ head honcho Merrill Garbus as a singer, lyricist and beatsmith, the question remains: can she create a truly satisfying collection of songs? Certain tracks are impenetrable, such as ‘make it right’. Others are simply ill-advised, particularly ‘silence pt. 2 who is “we”?’. Consisting of 61 seconds of – you guessed it – silence, it wouldn’t be out of place on Spinal Tap’s Smell The Glove.

There are some fine things. The funk-flavoured ‘under your lip’ is an undeniable rump-shaker, while single ‘hold yourself.’ boasts some catchy hooks. But Sketchy remains, well, a bit sketchy.