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Now the experimentation with electric guitars, even more electronic sampling and a focus on vocalist Becky Jacobs has brought Tunng to a paradise of exceeded expectations.
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While it's hardly the stark, across-the-board tonal sea change suggested by several of its most immediately ear-catching cuts, And Then We Saw Land is at once an adventurous outward journey and an invitingly familiar return from an always intriguing, intrepid, and under-heralded band.
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Instead of shadowing the pack, this album puts them right up the front.
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...And Then We Saw Land is a satisfying addition to the Tunng canon and is one which proves them distinctive enough in their own right that the only label they need be tagged with is simply that of 'Tunng'.
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The end result is an album that would be fine as a first effort--that is, if it did not naturally have to be compared to previous Tunng albums.
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God bless Tunng for making what is otherwise one of the more obnoxious genres of music (Folktronica) so damned delectable.
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MojoIt's ecentric, then, but charmingly so. [Apr 2010, p.102]
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The result is a real evolution for Tunng, producing their most consistent and fully rounded album yet.
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And Then We Saw Land isn’t a bad album, it just doesn‘t grab you.
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No one should begrudge them their cleaner, smoother sound, but straight-laced songwriting has sapped the band's well-worn eccentricities. Tunng have outgrown and outlasted the restrictive genres they were once boxed into, but Saw Land struggles to find its place in a larger context.
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Obviously some compositions work better than others, but for the most part this balancing act between anthemia and meticulous detail works very well.
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Q MagazineWhen backing singer Becky Jacob's voice is brought tot he fore, it wraps around Linday's like a warm hug, leaving you feeling that Tunng are the band you'd most like to watch sunrise over the stone circle with. [Apr 2010, p.114]
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Those who feel it all sounds uncomfortably commercial should rest assured: this is a step forward.
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UncutThere's sparse evidence of their supposedly influential stay in Mali with desert bluesmen Tinariwen here, and ultimately their sonic porridge ends up a tad unsalted. [Mar 2010, p.98]
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Under The RadarIt's a record which breaks with their previous work in many ways, most noticeably with the absence of singer/songwriter and group founder Sam Genders, but also with its grander, wider sweep. [Winter 2010, p.66]