Consumer Guide Album

tUnE-yArDs: Better Dreaming [4AD, 2025]
Having long both admired and enjoyed this Oakland pair-plus's eccentric world folk-rock, I'm mildly dismayed to be less charmed now that Merrill and Nate have elected to beef up their pop appeal structurally. Even so, however, I wish their somewhat more conventional songs the sales the pair have every right to aim for. Is this shift in strategy in part because there seems to be a baby in the house? Of course it is. Fuck you if you can't take a cuddle. B+