I have a shelf in my flat that is full of crazy musical instruments you’d remember from your junior school days. Tiny bells, little shakers, party whistles, finger cymbals, a toy piano and playful toy instruments. There is a freedom and naive wonderment playing with them and that spark of creativity and childlike buoyancy is what came to mind when I discovered Tar Of. The Brooklyn-based duo have announced their sophomore album ‘Confidence Freaks Me Out’ and expect a plethora of crazy instrumentation that sounds like a sound emporium. The duo said that they wanted their new album to “confound and amuse”. If they felt the arrangement of a song was too serious, they’d rework it around adding a silly motif or quirk. In many ways, I’m reminded of another cult duo Dva. They too are almost genre-defiant and make up their own musical rules.
To revel in the absurdity, Tar Of took a maximalist approach to making music. Across the album’s 24 tracks, you’ll hear all kinds of instruments, ideas, cross genres and general off-kilter creativity. The best way I can describe it is like an art rock album having its 6th birthday party and everyone’s a bit giddy on e-numbers and taken to old keyboards to let it all out. Yet, there is still enough musicality with hooks and melodies to catch the ear. Clever stuff all round.
‘Amused By Their Comment’ is the lead single and you can enjoy the track below. The single is out now and you can pre-order the album ‘Confidence Freaks Me Out’ now ahead of its October 23rd release date.