Good Arrows

"It's fine if we are by our side," Genders sings, which, despite the triteness of the statement, provides a nice ending to the record, lighter and breezier, balancing the concern with enjoyment, and making Good Arrows a very complete album indeed.

Dark as the rest of the album's subject matter, it wafts by like a delightful breeze. That's partly because the music is delicate and gentle, but it's mostly because Tunng can write the kind of melodies that get under your skin. They are still there long after the gloom has dispersed, making Good Arrows a dark pleasure, but a pleasure nonetheless.

Such is Tunng's appeal, the ability to do the unexpected but also to make you smile with their lyrical vignettes and musical slights of hand.

Don't let the seductively pleasant drift of the tunes fool you: this is sharp, dark stuff.

Good Arrows is still a series of beautiful songs for that part of us all that just wants to stay in bed all day.

Clearly progressing from album to album, with Good Arrows Tunng has signalled the arrival of a fully conceptualised group sound.

It's an album sufficiently laced with despair to render the not-committed listener uncomfortable; delve deeper, though, to where the darkness makes way for an eerie underworld glow, and the record's beauty emerges.

The sound remains an expert blend of studio and sampling wizardy with breathy folk songs. [Fall 2007, p.83]

There may be nothing exactly wrong with Good Arrows as a record, and I’m sure that in a different time and situation it would be considered a respectable if shallow pop record.

Although Good Arrows is aimed in the direction of a synthesis between the band's two predominant elements, the result misses the target by just a bit.

Good Arrows tempers its communal, folky feel with tasteful and restrained use of samples and loops, resulting in an inviting environment that feels soothing and organic.

An album that values discreet whimsy over Wicker Man portent, it succeeds on its own puckish terms. [Sep 2007, p.109]

They have taken on a wider range of styles and adapted them to their strict sound, but it still sounds like Tunng, which is never a bad thing.

It's messy, it takes time to sink in, but it's worth it. [Sep 2007, p.100]

Recommended for anyone who finds Beth Orton too raucous. [Nov 2007, p.125]

At times it feels like someone's watered down the acid Kool-Aid, but with shining technicolour romps such as 'Bullets,' the sun is an optional extra this summer.

Too often though, the digitized productions act as ?ller, sounding forced.

Tunng has taken one analog-age lesson very much to heart by making Good Arrows nice and short; it's 11 songs clock in at 43 minutes, and only one is an outright dud. [Fall 2007, p.108]