New Tortoise album, Touch

Touch (International Anthem / Nonesuch) is the first new Tortoise studio album in nine years (following 2016’s The Catastrophist).

A co-release between the International Anthem and Nonesuch labels, the new record harnesses Tortoise’s anarchistic-but-egalitarian approach to songwriting resulting in a victory of ideas over ego.

You can still hear the gnarled jazz inflections of landmark works like Millions Now Living With Never Die and TNT, but with Touch, there’s a grandiosity that belies the band’s reputation for polite exploration.

From techno rave-ups to spaghetti western homage, the stylistic diversity of the record is, according to International Anthem, “a reflection of the band’s current operating circumstances: with two members now in Los Angeles, another in Portland, and just two remaining in the band’s Chicago hometown.”

“Layered Presence” from Touch is featured on Episode 3 of Jazz Realities with Scott McDowell. Available now on LP, CD or as a DL from Bandcamp and distributed worldwide.