Touch (INTERNATIONAL ANTHEM盤)

Tortoise9年ぶりの新作。今作は言葉のないドラマです。精巧に構成され、丁寧にミックスされ、独特のシネマティックな不安感を演出しています。初期段階では、地理的に合理的な妥協策として、ロサンゼルス、ポートランド、シカゴの3拠点でスタジオを設置。セッションの間に数ヶ月の空き期間を設け、各メンバーが素材に向き合い、楽曲をさらに洗練させました。この方法により、従来の自由奔放な開発セッションの多くを個人作業に移しつつ、長年培ったサウンドの語彙や信頼関係を活用することができているのです。

Tortoise has never charted a predictable course. Jeff Parker, John McEntire, Douglas McCombs, Dan Bitney, and John Herndons increasingly busy schedules led to longer gaps between releases, and by the time they were ready to record Touch, their home bases stretched to Los Angeles and Portland as well as their old stomping grounds of Chicago. A full nine years may separate this album from 2016s The Catastrophist, but time and distance havent diluted the musical chemistry between these old friends. The logistics of recording in three cities hasnt dulled the impact of their playing, either; on the gleaming motorik of "Axial Seamount," they balance clockwork precision with the spontaneity of a jam session. Frequently, the bands interplay is so effortlessly connected that the intricacies of the shifting tempos and harmonic variations on songs such as "Works and Days" only reveal themselves fully after several listens. Though Tortoises music remains as complex as ever, Touch is often notably more compact: The explosive highlight "Rated OG" clocks in at just under two minutes. Here and on several of the albums other standout tracks, like "Oganesson"s loping, metallic funk, Tortoise still get remarkable mileage out of their signature juxtaposition of knotty rhythms and chiming clarity. They continue to find new angles on this contrast, tearing "Layered Presence"s delicate synth arpeggios in two with a serrated guitar solo and transforming "Vexations" doomy surf-rock into slippery experimental electronics. Even without guest appearances like those on The Catastrophist, Tortoise still broaden their musical boundaries as they span "Elka"s brisk monochrome techno pulse to the lush romance of "Promenade a Deux"s marimbas and strings. "Night Gang," which unites the albums sounds into a seductive, hypnotic hybrid of 60s pop and symphonic jazz, may be the records most adventurous moment, but all of Touch reflects the curiosity that has driven Tortoise since the beginning -- and still drives them all these years later. ~ Heather Phares