The Tangent’s Andy Tillison gives fans a glimpse into the inspiration behind the new album, Auto Reconnaissance. The band’s 11th studio release is out on August 21 via InsideOut.
Says Tillison: "I utterly refuse to accept that progressive rock music is some kind of museum piece. It’s actually a living and breathing movement that has a past, a present and above all, a future. It once had an album-chart-topping golden age, but the genre was never about that. It has subtly and virally kept itself alive for decades where many new musical genres have risen to glory and faded away."
For this release, he’s once again joined by long-time collaborators Jonas Reingold, Luke Machin (who co-produced the album with him), Theo Travis, and Steve Roberts. Together they bring to life an album that has been influenced by the likes of ELP, The Isley Brothers, Steely Dan, Aphex Twin, National Health, Rose Royce, Squarepusher and Return To Forever amongst others.
Of the personnel, Tillison explains: “In the past six years the line-up of The Tangent has become more stable than at the beginning. I think that the identity of the Tangent as a ‘group’ rather than a ‘project’ started to come together on the album A Spark In The Aether in 2014. Essentially Luke, Jonas, Theo and myself have appeared on the last four albums, and we added Steve Roberts for the tour that supported The Slow Rust Of Forgotten Machinery in 2017 and we’ve settled on this line-up. I hope for a while because I find this unit to be productive, in tune with the band’s purpose and manifesto and a lot of fun to boot.
“The new album, Auto Reconnaissance, is the first time that the core band has been identical in structure to its predecessor. For the first time I feel that everyone is totally onboard with the fusion of jazz, prog, punkishness and electronica that The Tangent likes to cook up. We are a good group of friends and although we don’t meet up often, it’s a real blast when we do. I’ve always considered Ed Unitsky [Unitopia], the cover artist, to have been a recurring member of the cast – his artwork has been a huge part of our story and although we move away, we always return.”
Watch the video below.
Auto Reconnaissance tracklisting
1. Life On Hold
2. Jinxed In Jersey
3. Under Your Spell
4. The Tower Of Babel
5. Lie Back & Think Of England
6. The Midas Touch
7. Proxima (Bonus Track)
