The exit of co-founding songwriter Sam Genders hasn’t diminished the glow of English five-piece Tunng on this fourth album. Longtime member Becky Jacobs now sings lead as well as Mike Lindsay, and the instrumentation is warm and varied to say the least. The presence of banjo and acoustic guitar alongside loops and synth may cause the ‘folktronica’tag to linger, but that’s just the beginning of the band’s ever-encroaching sound. Layering is key, whether the layers consist of shuffling percussion or baroque embellishment, and voices come and go with ease. True to the aforementioned tag, it’s all a bit like creaky trad-folk updated with equal parts indie pop and electronics.
Even within such a busy sound, details rise to the forefront to hold sway over our attention. Jacobs’ soft voice comes into its own on the swaying, skipping ‘It Breaks’, while ‘October’ goes from breezy guitar picking to glitch-y vocals and the whispered ‘With Whiskey’ shares some of the refrain of A-ha’s ‘Take On Me’, of all things. Most of these songs are as gentle as can be, including the synth-wheeling ‘Santiago’ and the acoustic hidden track, but menacing electric guitar emerges on the standout ‘Don’t Look Down Or Back’ and some cosmic licks wend through the instrumental ‘By Dusk They Were In The City’.
In the end, the album’s somewhat romantic lyrics and pop sensibilities sit nicely with Tunng’s constant pursuit of new textures. It’s almost an understatement, but …And Then We Saw Land sounds a bit different with each listen.
Doug Wallen
