One of the most revered bands in the American underground and one of the busiest, as their side-projects continue to multiply, Tortoise's fourth album comes at a prescient time. Can they still lead or will they merely follow their own well-trodden path?
Opening track 'Seneca' initially suggests the worst, beginning as it does with two minutes of crescendo after crescendo. After that fades out, though, a distorted drum leads the song in a much more interesting direction, as guitar, keyboard, harpsichord and handclaps are all layered meticulously on top of one another.
The influence of recent collaborators like Autechre and Spring Heel Jack is prevalent throughout much of the album as tracks like 'Eros' fuse jazzy, organic instrumentation like marimbas and guitar to colder cut-up beats.
Many tracks take forward the hybrid experimentation the band have explored on previous tracks like 'Djed' to the next level. 'Benway', for example, begins as atmospheric dub before mutating into full-scale indie-jazz.
'Six Pack' is a return to straightforward jazz-fusion, with some lovely fluid, boomy guitar work from new recruit Jeff Parker while 'Eden 2' again features some heavy drumming, pulsing synths and snatches of sound fading in and out.
Meanwhile, the spacey, distorted guitar lines at the beginning of 'Monica' recall the mischievous manipulations of Daft Punk. The track shifts through several variant instrumental passages, including a thrillingly ominous part featuring a puffing sax lurking in the shadows with a dark, gloomy bass.
'Black Jack' is possibly the best track on the album, capturing all the disparate influences of the album in a little over four minutes before 'Speakeasy' closes proceedings by gradually falling into a blizzard of static.
A step forward, then, as this unique musicians' collective continue to assimilate fresh inspiration. And, refreshingly, this album is probably the most accessible Tortoise have made to date, ensuring they still lead while others follow.
