Tortoise's Slow, Steady Roll Continues On 'Touch'

"Tortoise releasing a record with anyone other than Thrill Jockey after a 30-plus-year relationship is a shocker for a group not known for dramatic changes. It's akin to Autechre abandoning Warp! Anyway, the important thing about Tortoise is that their last two albums before the International Anthem/Nonesuch-reared Touch - 2009's Beacons of Ancestorship and 2016's The Catastrophist - have been among their most vital and inventive, an unusual trajectory for a group well into their fourth decade."

"For all of their cred as post-rock pioneers, Tortoise at this point seems like a casual, part-time project - either that or they spend many meticulous years honing material for their records. But the truth is, all five members stay busy in myriad other projects, especially guitarist Jeff Parker, who's become a prime mover in avant-jazz circles. For Touch, their eighth studio LP (could the title reference synth magus Morton Subotnick's 1969 album?), they've regrouped for another subtle advance in their evolution."

"On a macro level, Touch finds Tortoise leaning more heavily on electronics and metallic textures. At one extreme, there's "Elka," a girthy, cerebral techno banger, albeit one created by middle-aged humans in real time, on traditional instruments. At the other is "Promenade à deux," a sonically rich soufflé of ambivalent melodies, bass smudges, and crispy synth riffs. There's a real delicacy here that harks back to 2004's It's All Around You."

Tortoise left longtime label Thrill Jockey to release Touch on International Anthem/Nonesuch, marking an unusual label change after 30-plus years. The band continues a late-career creative surge following Beacons of Ancestorship and The Catastrophist. All five members remain active in other projects, notably guitarist Jeff Parker's avant-jazz work. Touch leans more heavily on electronics and metallic textures while retaining delicate, melodic interplay. Tracks range from the girthy, cerebral techno of "Elka" to the sonically rich "Promenade à deux", with "Organesson" and "A Title Comes" blending robotic beats, lush strings, and metallo-electronic percussion.

Read at SPIN