Tune-Yards – Look At Your Hands

“Yes, the world is a mess,” admits Merrill Garbus in a press release, “but I’ve been attempting to look more and more inward: how do all of these ‘isms’ that we live in manifest in me, in my daily activities, interactions?” As such, the lead single from upcoming album ‘I can feel you creep into my private life’ – which is set to look at issues such as race, politics, and more - ‘Look At Your Hands’ probably couldn’t be a better introduction to Merrill and co’s latest twelve-track collection.

Alongside a megaton of bouncy bass and propulsive percussion there resides some 80s-style production, filled with mechanical, snapping drum machine beats and Merrill’s voice occasionally chopped, screwed and filtered through an MPC. Her lyrics are simple, mostly repetitions of a few phrases, which the refrain of “look at your hands”. Simple, though, is often highly effective. It’s a short line, but one that suggests that sense of inward reflection that Merrill speaks of, musing on the actions we have - and will - take.

The end result is as striking as ever: danceable, fun, but with a point to ponder on, ‘Look At Your Hands’ sees Tune-Yards once again easily encouraging the movement of both the body and the mind.