The Tangent Official Thread - 13th Album, "To Follow Polaris" May 10th

[bluefox4000]

I'm always surprised how TFK, Roine Stolt, Spock's Beard, Neal Morse, BBT, Beardfish (Rikard), Dream Theater and many other prog bands get all this attention, yet The Tangent does not spur the kind of excitement the aforementioned acts create. Just look here, at progarchives, or other music forums that discuss prog rock. Never understood it.

they are fantastic.  I've been devouring their stuff like a starving man.  and i may prefer them too TFK honestly TFK have a few albums i'm not as keen on.  but i did not hear 1 Tangent album i disliked.

they are brilliant.

[Fritzinger]

I'm always surprised how TFK, Roine Stolt, Spock's Beard, Neal Morse, BBT, Beardfish (Rikard), Dream Theater and many other prog bands get all this attention, yet The Tangent does not spur the kind of excitement the aforementioned acts create. Just look here, at progarchives, or other music forums that discuss prog rock. Never understood it.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Sure, DT is a different issue. But I don't think The Tangent get less attention than Gungfly (to mention Rikard's current band instead of the disbanded Beardfish) or The Flower Kings. Not sure if either of those two bands play concerts with more than 300 (okay, maybe 500 in TFK's case?) people attending. Coincidentally, in another thread I mentioned some of those prog bands issue colored vinyl versions of their albums limited to 100 copies. Gungfly did that in September with their new album and you can still buy it regularly on InsideOut.

[kirksnosehair]

I have grown to love Andy's vocals but I think that's the biggest difference among that group of bands.   

[bluefox4000]

I have grown to love Andy's vocals but I think that's the biggest difference among that group of bands.

i like Andy's Vocals too.  his cadence and delivery rind me vaguely of Roger Waters.  i think that's why i enjoy them.


He's not as harsh as waters.  However the vibe is there.

[kirksnosehair]

There is something about the way he delivers his spoken parts too that just appeals to my sense of humor and every time I listen to this band I end up laughing out loud at some point, I can't help it.  Especially when he does imitations of New Yorkers fuck that shit is hilarious 

[darkshade]

COMM was my first new Tangent album as a fan, and this one I've always felt was one of their strongest albums. I always liked the downfall of society thanks to tech and social media theme throughout the album. The lyrics hit the nail on the head all over this album. The 20 minute opener The Wiki Man is a fantastic composition, and one of my favorites of theirs. High energy, a nice cool down section, and just all around great song. New guitarist in the band Lucke Machin is a really great player, and for me, is a big reason this is one of their best albums. Up til this point he is possibly the most talented and creative guitarist the band has had. He brings riffy sound to the proceedings here and there as well. The 20 minute closer Titanic Calls Carpathia is also high quality epic prog with a little funkiness to it. Both are really fun pieces. The songs in between are pretty good. The Mind's Eye is a typical hard rockin' shorter Tangent track with heavy synths all over, it's almost a metal song. Shoot Them Down is a slower song, nothing controversial, musically pleasing for a slower tune. Tech Support Guy is a fun, quirky rock song about.. tech support guys.

The sound quality is really good here, and the injection of old school computer sounds is neat. This album has a lot of funky moments throughout, as noted earlier, lots of clavinet, lots of proggy grooves. Lots of great soaring synths and powerful lead guitar.

I totally get the Roger Waters comparison in Andy's vocals, not that he sounds like Waters, but more has that cynical English feel in his voice like RW has had since around Wish You Were Here. He stays in the mid to low range of his voice. Something The Tangent could use, though, is some stronger background vocalists, maybe someone who could hit higher notes.

[bluefox4000]

I'm gonna tell you something i noticed.  Andy has a very negative view on technology i'm guessing.  it pops up a lot.  not just on COMM and it kinda grates just  a bit.  as someone who is big on tech.  i hear old man yells from his lawn.

but still rapidly becoming a big fav band in my house.

[The Letter M]

COMM was my first new Tangent album as a fan, and this one I've always felt was one of their strongest albums. I always liked the downfall of society thanks to tech and social media theme throughout the album. The lyrics hit the nail on the head all over this album. The 20 minute opener The Wiki Man is a fantastic composition, and one of my favorites of theirs. High energy, a nice cool down section, and just all around great song. New guitarist in the band Lucke Machin is a really great player, and for me, is a big reason this is one of their best albums. Up til this point he is possibly the most talented and creative guitarist the band has had. He brings riffy sound to the proceedings here and there as well. The 20 minute closer Titanic Calls Carpathia is also high quality epic prog with a little funkiness to it. Both are really fun pieces. The songs in between are pretty good. The Mind's Eye is a typical hard rockin' shorter Tangent track with heavy synths all over, it's almost a metal song. Shoot Them Down is a slower song, nothing controversial, musically pleasing for a slower tune. Tech Support Guy is a fun, quirky rock song about.. tech support guys.

The sound quality is really good here, and the injection of old school computer sounds is neat. This album has a lot of funky moments throughout, as noted earlier, lots of clavinet, lots of proggy grooves. Lots of great soaring synths and powerful lead guitar.

I totally get the Roger Waters comparison in Andy's vocals, not that he sounds like Waters, but more has that cynical English feel in his voice like RW has had since around Wish You Were Here. He stays in the mid to low range of his voice. Something The Tangent could use, though, is some stronger background vocalists, maybe someone who could hit higher notes.

Some very good points there! The two epics are definitely the highlights of COMM for me, especially making up 36:50 of the album (which is only 57:39 long anyway). I remember when it came out, I spun it A LOT, and quite a bit even after LSDT came out. two years later. For me, COMM was a step up from DAOIPAL, and the album had a stronger line-up with the introduction of Luke Machin.

Of course, I gotta bring up the two VERY fun bonus tracks on this album - "The Spirit Of The Net", which is obviously a Rush pastiche, is a fun listen, even if it's still just a demo by Andy. Makes me wish he got the whole band to record it! And the other bonus track is a "Fantasy Bootleg" - what if Yes, along with Peter Gabriel, had played their own rendition of "Watcher Of The Skies". It's a very well done cover that really encapsulates that early-Yes sound and feel while the vocals really emulate Peter's style from back then as well.

Sadly, there has been a distinct lack of live Tangent recordings over the last 10 years, and so the only released live track from COMM has been "Titanic Calls Carpathia" from the London Or Paris, Berlin Or Southend On Sea official bootleg. The live version starts with a loud and rousing drum and keys extended (two minute) intro, very ELP-ish, pushing the song to nearly 19 minutes!

-Marc.

[darkshade]

This is where we start getting into the part of the discography I'm not as familiar with. In the months leading up to the release of Le Sacre Du Travail which I believe was released in the summer of 2013, I was drifting away from progressive rock bands. I checked this out because I heard Jonas was rejoining the band, and that Rikard from Beardfish and BBT was on it (but only for narration as I later found out) but I probably only heard this a handful of times when I got it, and I haven't listened in years. With a fresh set of ears, this is clearly classic The Tangent, and it's nice to hear Jonas back on bass again. We're also rejoined by Jakko Jakkszyk on guitar, and new to the band Gavin Harrison which is a nice treat. I just think this band sounds a lot better when Jonas is there, the bass on the last two albums was solid, but not very much in the forefront and Jonas is just a fantastic player.

This album is one 63 minute piece of music, with some bonus tracks. It's so weird to listen to music you haven't heard in a long time, music you didn't get to know well, and go back and forth between recognizing a melody or riff here and there, but elsewhere it feels like all new music. I was commenting on the backing vocals on the last album, COMM, and I notice the backing vocals here are a lot better sounding to me (Jakko's vocals?)

Jonas makes his return to the band known early in the piece. There are some strings here and there, sometimes reminding me of 20th Century Classical music in spots. Lots of other ethereal and earthy sounds subtly mixed in what from I hear. Of course, there is plenty of the symphonic rock mixed with jazzy Canterbury influenced sounds and prog-disco grooves. I'm not one to usually comment on lyrics, but the lyrics are even more cynical here than the last album. I think the band's lyrics get more cynical with each release, really. Overall, this album is a lot better than I recall, but that's because I wasn't in the mood for this music at the time of release. I'm even more excited to continue progressing through the band's discography now as it seems they really never let up.

[darkshade]

Of course, I gotta bring up the two VERY fun bonus tracks on this album - "The Spirit Of The Net", which is obviously a Rush pastiche, is a fun listen, even if it's still just a demo by Andy. Makes me wish he got the whole band to record it! And the other bonus track is a "Fantasy Bootleg" - what if Yes, along with Peter Gabriel, had played their own rendition of "Watcher Of The Skies". It's a very well done cover that really encapsulates that early-Yes sound and feel while the vocals really emulate Peter's style from back then as well.

Sadly, there has been a distinct lack of live Tangent recordings over the last 10 years, and so the only released live track from COMM has been "Titanic Calls Carpathia" from the London Or Paris, Berlin Or Southend On Sea official bootleg. The live version starts with a loud and rousing drum and keys extended (two minute) intro, very ELP-ish, pushing the song to nearly 19 minutes!

-Marc.

My copy of COMM doesn't have the bonus tracks, or maybe I didn't rip them to my hard drive (I'd have to pull out the CD to look) but on Spotify the bonus tracks aren't there either, same for the bonus tracks for DAOIPAL, and A Place In The Queue (though that was a separate disc.)
Le Sacre Du Travail they are there, so that's kind of strange.

I'll probably get to the live stuff after the most recent album. I was thinking about going through a bunch of live Tangent as well as live TFK, Transatlantic, Neal Morse, DT, etc... in the coming weeks. I've never been HUGE into live albums by prog bands for the most part. But I always like to have at least one release per band. Unfortunately I have none by The Tangent and only Going Off On One is streaming, I'd be interested in checking out the first live album with Roine and Zoltan.

[The Letter M]

My copy of COMM doesn't have the bonus tracks, or maybe I didn't rip them to my hard drive (I'd have to pull out the CD to look) but on Spotify the bonus tracks aren't there either, same for the bonus tracks for DAOIPAL, and A Place In The Queue (though that was a separate disc.)
Le Sacre Du Travail they are there, so that's kind of strange.

That is quite strange. Of all the bonus tracks, I'd say the ones on APITQ were pretty strong. In the case of DAOIPAL, I'd say it's worth having. COMM's bonus tracks are a take-it-or-leave-it deal, as they don't really add too much to the album other than being fun curiosities. Same with LSFT, since one is an album edit, another is a super short live track, and the other is another All-Andy demo-type piece.

On Proxy, I find it odd that they couldn't find a way to fit "Supper's Off" on the vinyl, as I think it's the essential album closer for the album (as it is on the CD). And thank goodness I'm going through bonus tracks now because I *just* realized I never ripped "Proxima" from Auto  Reconnaissance, even though I've had the album for well over 6 months now.

I'll probably get to the live stuff after the most recent album. I was thinking about going through a bunch of live Tangent as well as live TFK, Transatlantic, Neal Morse, DT, etc... in the coming weeks. I've never been HUGE into live albums by prog bands for the most part. But I always like to have at least one release per band. Unfortunately I have none by The Tangent and only Going Off On One is streaming, I'd be interested in checking out the first live album with Roine and Zoltan.

Sadly, the live albums from The Tangent have become few and far between. The first two are definite high lights, and I think you can buy the first one digitally from the band's Bandcamp page (though if you can wait til the first Friday of April, the band/Andy will get all the profits for the purchase). Going Off On Two is a live-in-the-studio type deal that, IIRC, features the all-English line-up playing 90 minutes of music. It's a fun watch on DVD, but to be honest I have not revisited it very often.

Then there is the Official Bootleg, London Or Paris, Berlin Or Southend On Sea, which features about 94 minutes of live music from the COMM tour, I believe, back in 2012. That one is also available on their Bandcamp page. Then their last live album was a co-release with Karmakanic, Hotel Cantaffordit, which is a great listen if you're also a fan of Jonas Reingold's band Karmakanic, and the mixed line-up is fun to listen to as well!

-Marc.

[darkshade]

What's the deal with waiting til the first Friday in April?

[The Letter M]

What's the deal with waiting til the first Friday in April?

Starting last summer, Bandcamp would waive their own profits on the first Friday of every month in order to give artists selling their music 100% of the profits, so if you wanna give full support to any bands on Bandcamp, it's best to wait til the first Friday of the each month.

-Marc.

[darkshade]

What's the deal with waiting til the first Friday in April?

Starting last summer, Bandcamp would waive their own profits on the first Friday of every month in order to give artists selling their music 100% of the profits, so if you wanna give full support to any bands on Bandcamp, it's best to wait til the first Friday of the each month.

-Marc.

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep it in mind. I'll be blunt, though, I have no desire to hurry and check out the live albums other than the first one with Roine and Zoltan, and I'll check out GOOO () since it's on streaming services.

[The Letter M]

What's the deal with waiting til the first Friday in April?

Starting last summer, Bandcamp would waive their own profits on the first Friday of every month in order to give artists selling their music 100% of the profits, so if you wanna give full support to any bands on Bandcamp, it's best to wait til the first Friday of the each month.

-Marc.

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep it in mind. I'll be blunt, though, I have no desire to hurry and check out the live albums other than the first one with Roine and Zoltan, and I'll check out GOOO () since it's on streaming services.

Those first two are definitely the better ones to check out, but if you really like the DAOIPAL and COMM material, find time to check out the London Or Paris, Berlin Or Southend On Sea release!

-Marc.

[bluefox4000]

I've heard some live albums.  i think listening to these guys in the studio way more.

I was listening to A place in the Queue Again.  It's great the influences i hear in these guys.  Lost in london reminds me of Al Steward circa his Year of the Cat era.

could be me just hearing that but i love it.

also i still think they haven't surpassed a place In The Queue.  my fav.  it's perfect.

[darkshade]

Well, I've been pretty surprised by A Spark in the Aether. To me, it sounds fresh and quite inspired. The guitarist from COMM, Luke Machin, is back and I think he's the best guitarist for this band. Will give this a few more listens before I say much more. I really enjoyed the epic, and all around great playing from all involved.

[darkshade]

ASITA is quickly moving up the ranks as one of my favorite Tangent albums. It's just a scorcher all the way through, the energy level is very high. Jonas and Luke in the band combined with Tillison's keys and vocals, is a great combo. To me this is possibly the best lineup so far, if Zoltan was on drums it would be unstoppable but of course the drums on ASITA are just fine. Andy doesn't hire anything less than competent musicians. I really think the ideas and the flow of the music on this album is fantastic. My only gripe is the vocals, mainly the name drops of celebrities that are already dated as of 2021. But otherwise, I'm loving all the music. The epic in particular has a real groovy feel much of the way through, and I really like how it sounds. Everyone is just firing off great riffs, melodies, solos. I'm not sure what the reaction to this one was in the prog community at the time of its release, but I have to imagine some people may have gotten on board with the band (though it still feels like no one except us chickens are into this band, TFK/TA/NM and a few others seem to garner much more attention in comparison.

[The Letter M]

ASITA is quickly moving up the ranks as one of my favorite Tangent albums. It's just a scorcher all the way through, the energy level is very high. Jonas and Luke in the band combined with Tillison's keys and vocals, is a great combo. To me this is possibly the best lineup so far, if Zoltan was on drums it would be unstoppable but of course the drums on ASITA are just fine. Andy doesn't hire anything less than competent musicians. I really think the ideas and the flow of the music on this album is fantastic. My only gripe is the vocals, mainly the name drops of celebrities that are already dated as of 2021. But otherwise, I'm loving all the music. The epic in particular has a real groovy feel much of the way through, and I really like how it sounds. Everyone is just firing off great riffs, melodies, solos. I'm not sure what the reaction to this one was in the prog community at the time of its release, but I have to imagine some people may have gotten on board with the band (though it still feels like no one except us chickens are into this band, TFK/TA/NM and a few others seem to garner much more attention in comparison.

ASITA is a great album! If you're curious, there was some discussion about the album when it came out in this thread, somewhere halfway down page two, but since there haven't been many Tangent fans here in the past, the discussion was very short-lived. Whenever there is an update with Andy or The Tangent, I'm typicaly the one to revive the thread after months/years of time between posts! 

I'm glad you like the drumming on ASITA, though, as Morgan Ågren is a great drummer. If you didn't know, he's the drummer for Kaipa (the modern incarnation) and Karmakanic, so he and Jonas have had chemistry for awhile together. I'll be curious to see what you have to say about the drumming on the following album, The Slow Rust Of Forgotten Machinery.

-Marc.

[HOF]

Not sure this needed it’s own thread, but surely some of the Tillison/Tangent fans here have checked out the Tillison Reingold Tirantos album “Allium Una Storia” that came out a few weeks ago? I think Marc is actually thanked in the liner notes even.

For those who don’t know, it’s Andy Tillison’s attempt to recreate the music from an Italian prog band called Allium that he heard at a festival as a teen in the 70s while on a family vacation in Italy. He apparently managed to meet the band and jam with them during that vacation, and they gave him a demo tape of some of their music that he listened to over and over again, but was either lost or stolen from him at some point years ago. This album is not their actual music, but the music he imagines they might have made if they ever had a chance to release a full studio album. It’s really more of a tribute to that whole 70s Italian prog scene (the lyrics are Italian).

Maybe that sounds a bit silly, but the music is really really good. They tried to record and mix it using only technology available in the 70s, and it definitely has that sound and feel. The album contains a more modern mix of the songs as well (it’s only 3 songs long, so 6 tracks total). Anyway, it’s fantastic and if you haven’t heard it you should check it out. It’s up there with a few others in contention for my album of the year at the moment.

[The Letter M]

Not sure this needed it’s own thread, but surely some of the Tillison/Tangent fans here have checked out the Tillison Reingold Tirantos album “Allium Una Storia” that came out a few weeks ago? I think Marc is actually thanked in the liner notes even.

For those who don’t know, it’s Andy Tillison’s attempt to recreate the music from an Italian prog band called Allium that he heard at a festival as a teen in the 70s while on a family vacation in Italy. He apparently managed to meet the band and jam with them during that vacation, and they gave him a demo tape of some of their music that he listened to over and over again, but was either lost or stolen from him at some point years ago. This album is not their actual music, but the music he imagines they might have made if they ever had a chance to release a full studio album. It’s really more of a tribute to that whole 70s Italian prog scene (the lyrics are Italian).

Maybe that sounds a bit silly, but the music is really really good. They tried to record and mix it using only technology available in the 70s, and it definitely has that sound and feel. The album contains a more modern mix of the songs as well (it’s only 3 songs long, so 6 tracks total). Anyway, it’s fantastic and if you haven’t heard it you should check it out. It’s up there with a few others in contention for my album of the year at the moment.

I got my copy of the Tillison Reingold Tiranti (not Tirantos) album last week and have listened to it a couple of times. Pretty good 70s-era prog! I'm not very familiar with the Italian prog scene so I'm not sure how authentic the music is to that area and era of prog, but it was definitely enjoyable! I do wonder if they'll continue to make music as a unit!

I'm surprised I never brought it up in this thread considering I was one of the mega-fans who paid the premium to help produce the album, even with my name in the artwork. I guess it slipped my  mind!

-Marc.

[HOF]

Not sure this needed it’s own thread, but surely some of the Tillison/Tangent fans here have checked out the Tillison Reingold Tirantos album “Allium Una Storia” that came out a few weeks ago? I think Marc is actually thanked in the liner notes even.

For those who don’t know, it’s Andy Tillison’s attempt to recreate the music from an Italian prog band called Allium that he heard at a festival as a teen in the 70s while on a family vacation in Italy. He apparently managed to meet the band and jam with them during that vacation, and they gave him a demo tape of some of their music that he listened to over and over again, but was either lost or stolen from him at some point years ago. This album is not their actual music, but the music he imagines they might have made if they ever had a chance to release a full studio album. It’s really more of a tribute to that whole 70s Italian prog scene (the lyrics are Italian).

Maybe that sounds a bit silly, but the music is really really good. They tried to record and mix it using only technology available in the 70s, and it definitely has that sound and feel. The album contains a more modern mix of the songs as well (it’s only 3 songs long, so 6 tracks total). Anyway, it’s fantastic and if you haven’t heard it you should check it out. It’s up there with a few others in contention for my album of the year at the moment.

I got my copy of the Tillison Reingold Tiranti (not Tirantos) album last week and have listened to it a couple of times. Pretty good 70s-era prog! I'm not very familiar with the Italian prog scene so I'm not sure how authentic the music is to that area and era of prog, but it was definitely enjoyable! I do wonder if they'll continue to make music as a unit!

I'm surprised I never brought it up in this thread considering I was one of the mega-fans who paid the premium to help produce the album, even with my name in the artwork. I guess it slipped my  mind!

-Marc.

Bah, I was wrestling with auto-correct on Tiranti (kept changing it to something else) and still didn’t get it right!

I’m most familiar with PFM from that era (though I’ve heard a few others as well), but this definitely captures a similar vibe. I just think this project is really unique and a lot of fun to listen to. Thanks for helping to bring it to life!

[darkshade]

I didn't know this existed.
I'm familiar with PFM, Area, and a couple of other Italian prog bands I can't recall off the top of my head, so this sounds really interesting.

[The Letter M]

It's been a few months, but new Tangent activity is on the horizon! If you're a member of the Tangent Facebook page, Andy has posted clips and links for the upcoming 12th Tangent album, tentatively titled Songs From The Hard Shoulder, featuring the same lineup as the past few albums.

As usual, I've preordered the MEGAFAN option, and I cannot wait for this one next year! Hard to believe we are at their 12th album and on their 20th anniversary next year as well!

-Marc.

[HOF]

I feel like I should check out The Tangent albums post The Music That Died Alone, which is the only one I have. I really like it, but I kind of went through a non-prog period for a little bit soon after it came out and never really checked out their subsequent releases.

[The Letter M]

I feel like I should check out The Tangent albums post The Music That Died Alone, which is the only one I have. I really like it, but I kind of went through a non-prog period for a little bit soon after it came out and never really checked out their subsequent releases.

So you never got past their debut album in 2002? Well, you've got a LOT of catching up to do, my friend! Ten studio albums, several non-album song collections, and a few live albums. Since you've only gotten as far as their debut, I suggest just going through their catalog in chronological order, that way you get the full sense of their evolution from album to album, line-up to line-up.

-Marc.

[HOF]

I feel like I should check out The Tangent albums post The Music That Died Alone, which is the only one I have. I really like it, but I kind of went through a non-prog period for a little bit soon after it came out and never really checked out their subsequent releases.

So you never got past their debut album in 2002? Well, you've got a LOT of catching up to do, my friend! Ten studio albums, several non-album song collections, and a few live albums. Since you've only gotten as far as their debut, I suggest just going through their catalog in chronological order, that way you get the full sense of their evolution from album to album, line-up to line-up.

-Marc.

I'll try to check out the second one some time. Stolt stuck around for at least one more album after the debut, right?

[The Letter M]

I feel like I should check out The Tangent albums post The Music That Died Alone, which is the only one I have. I really like it, but I kind of went through a non-prog period for a little bit soon after it came out and never really checked out their subsequent releases.

So you never got past their debut album in 2002? Well, you've got a LOT of catching up to do, my friend! Ten studio albums, several non-album song collections, and a few live albums. Since you've only gotten as far as their debut, I suggest just going through their catalog in chronological order, that way you get the full sense of their evolution from album to album, line-up to line-up.

-Marc.

I'll try to check out the second one some time. Stolt stuck around for at least one more album after the debut, right?

Correct, the line-up for the first two albums is almost identical, the only difference being their wind player switched from David Jackson (VdGG) to Theo Travis (who has been with the band ever since).

-Marc.

[RoeDent]

And we've only relatively recently gone past the 1st anniversary of Auto Reconnaissance.

[The Letter M]

And we've only relatively recently gone past the 1st anniversary of Auto Reconnaissance.

It's been almost 1 year and 4 months, but The Tangent are used to putting out new albums every 2 years. Just looking at their main studio album release dates:
2003, October 7th
2004, October 12st
2006, January 31st
2008, March 3rd
2009, November 16th
2011, September 23rd
2013, June 24th
2015, April 17th
2017, July 21st
2018, November 16th
2020, August 21st

The longest time between any 2 studio albums is 27 months, between ASITA and TSROFM, with the shortest time being between their first two albums as just over 12 months.

Andy sure has been pretty prolific since 2003, though, putting out at least one release every year except 2010 and 2019 (near as I can tell) between Tangent albums, solo albums, collaborations, and other releases.

-Marc.

[darkshade]

I'm still a couple albums behind, I still need to check out the last two albums.

[The Letter M]

From Andy in The Tangent Facebook group:

Hi there - and today we, myself, Theo Travis, Luke Machin, Jonas Reingold and Steve Roberts are happy to officially announce the new Tangent album "Songs From the Hard Shoulder" Our 12th album in our 20th year as a band.
The album will be released by Insideout/Sony Music on June 10 this year (USA MAY differ) on CD and Vinyl.  The album has been a very close knit production between the five members and our respective partners with photographs from Sally Collyer, Christine Lenk and Sara Mirabbasi - and Sara took on the job of lead sleeve illustrator for this album  - her first album front cover - capturing the character from our song "The Lady Tied To The Lamp Post" almost exactly as I saw her.

Today IO have released a Youtube presentation  - a "single" if you like - a nearly 5 minute long edit of the 17 minute track "The Changes" You can hear that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lep4yoM6me8 The full length version of the song is described by Martin "Wallet Emptier" Hutchinson of the Progradar site as his second favorite of all The Tangent's long pieces - and he says it "always brings a big smile to the face" And no, I don't know which his favorite is. Ask Martin! And he's promised a review real soon.

Something that MAY interest you   is that early "special edition" versions of the CD  and all Vinyl copies will include a bonus track which is a cover of "In The Dead Of Night" by UK. Our 16 minute cover which is performed by Myself, Jonas and Luke is largely based around the main song at the beginning and end, with our own irprovisations on it sandwiched between.  (All the CDs we sell at Tangent feature this track subject to stock availability)

You can pre-order the CD version of this album directly from us at the Tangent website which is at www.thetangent.org doing this is the best way to help the band in its future endeavours - but any purchase, from anywhere is good too. We don't handle vinyl here, please order from your regular supplier.

Megafan preorder customers should check their members spaces today.

Now here is the official blurb from Insideout: Please share this post.... 

The Tangent, the progressive/jazz-rock collective led by Andy Tillison, are pleased to announce the release of their 12thstudio album ‘Songs From the Hard Shoulder’ on the 10thJune 2022. This album sees The Tangent focusing almost entirely on their long format songs or "epics" with only one song being less than 16 minutes long. A very mature sounding record, the band (who are celebrating their 20thyear in the business) have audibly focused on the compositional structure of this album which in the case of the three long pieces is also highly complex and "thought out".
Today, you can check out an edit of the album’s opening track and first single “The Changes (single edit)”:
https://youtu.be/lep4yoM6me8
Andy Tillison comments:
“The Changes was written in the depths of the first and strictest of the Covid Lockdowns. During this strangest of times there was an emptiness in all of our lives and this song explores my own such feelings in that time. I began to wonder whether the band would ever meet again, and more importantly, how long it would be before I could see my family again.  Some of the song is focused on the minutiae of being on tour with a band... not so much missing the gigs, the stages and the playing, but missing he crazy little things like not being able to find a hotel, being lost and the general camaraderie that is all around when a band is out on the road. It’s important to say that this single edit is just 5 minutes of what is a 17-minute song – and this only gives a hint at what is there in the full version... which includes a standout Luke Machin guitar solo of unbelievable quality which isn’t represented in this at all...”
Tracklisting:
The    Changes (17:06)
The    GPS Vultures (17:01)
The    Lady Tied To The Lamp Post (20:52)
Wasted    Soul (4:40)
In The Dead Of Night (Bonus) (16:11)
The album is available now for pre-order as:
https://thetangent.lnk.to/SongsFromTheHardShoulder
From a luscious and uplifting song about loneliness in Covid lockdown, to a full on 17-minute long jazz/prog/canterbury fusion instrumental, to a darkly electronic story of a homeless woman with shades of Nine Inch Nails, Po90, Japan and Van Der Graaf lurking within. The album's final track is the 4 minute bouncy Motown-style track "Wasted Soul", where the band anticipate a wonderful day in the future when the pandemic is over forever. Early editions and the Vinyl Edition will include the bonus track "In The Dead Of Night" which is of course a cover version of the classic song by UK. The band lineup remains from the previous 2 albums as Andy Tillison (Vocal/Keyboards), Jonas Reingold (Bass), Luke Machin (Guitar/Vocals), Steve Roberts (Drums) and Theo Travis (Sax & Flute).
The Tangent online:
www.thetangent.org
https://www.facebook.com/groups/alltangentmembers/
INSIDEOUTMUSIC ONLINE:
www.insideoutmusic.com
www.youtube.com/InsideOutMusicTV
www.facebook.com/InsideOutMusic
www.twitter.com/insideouteu
www.myspace.com/insideoutlabel

Big news for the band! Just over 2 months until release, but or course, I've ordered mine way back in mid-December.

-Marc.

[darkshade]

Great news. I'm still behind with their discography but glad to see they're going strong.

[Phoenix87x]

I like the new single.

Man, I don't listen to band enough

[The Letter M]

Great news. I'm still behind with their discography but glad to see they're going strong.

You should catch up! Their last few albums have been nothing but stellar, that is, if you're already a fan of Andy/The Tangent. Otherwise, you might not like it as much, but there is a definite settling of their sound now that the line-up has been maintained for the last couple of albums.

I like the new single.

Man, I don't listen to band enough

I haven't really listened to them in awhile either, but I think in the lead-up to the new album, I'll probably do a discography listen-through starting next month. Maybe as I do that, I'll post my thoughts on each album here if anyone wants to join in on that discussion, and it'd be a great way to celebrate 20 years of the band!

-Marc.