Tortoise’s almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization. Thrill Jockey has announced the group (comprised of Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire, and Jeff Parker) are set to release their new album The Catastrophist on January 22, 2016, seven years since their last release, Beacons Of Ancestorship.
“The Catastrophist is an album where moody, synth-swept jams like the opening title track cozy up next to hypnotic, bass-and-beat missives like ‘Shake Hands With Danger,’ a downright strange cover of David Essex’s 1973 radio smash, ‘Rock On,’ sung by U.S. Maple/Dead Rider’s Todd Rittmann, and the bittersweet, honest-to-goodness soul ballad ‘Yonder Blue,’ sung by Yo La Tengo’s Georgia Hubley.”
Listen to the debut single, “Gesceap”: