![Tortoise: [from left] John McEntire, Dan Bitney, Jeff Parker, Douglas McCombs and John Hernon.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/2YUmuCLFdmw3kARNUmCCBN-1920-80.jpg.webp)
Maybe it’s trite to say that a band called Tortoise needs to go slow to win the race, but there’s a good reason for it; nine years passed between the last two releases for the post-rock pioneers.
Fortunately, fans’ patience was rewarded with last year’s Touch, which had all the band’s hallmark sounds – the textured guitar melodies, the occasionally jazzy chord work, the little riffs that reveal increasing complexity on repeat listens.
It’s the result of a methodical recording schedule that kicked off in late 2021 with a session in Portland. The quintet, whose members dabble in numerous side and solo projects, would meet up every six months or so there, in Los Angeles, or in Chicago, laying down new ideas until they felt they had a coherent record.
“Sometimes we start with only a melody, without any specific chordal structure,” guitarist/bassist Douglas McCombs says. “I personally write a lot of things like that; I start with the melody, and then I start sketching what the chord structure would be underneath that melody.
“That’s where the interesting things in Tortoise happen, because somebody else’s idea of what the structure of the song might be could be drastically different and more interesting.”
“It’s got that quality I’ve always admired,” he says. “We used to do that a lot in mixing with Tortoise; we had this recorder thing for dictation, and we’d basically run different tracks through it occasionally to whatever that quality is. I don’t want to call it lo-fi, because that’s a dumb term.”
We had this recorder thing for dictation, and we’d basically run different tracks through it occasionally to whatever that quality is. I don’t want to call it lo-fi, because that’s a dumb term
There’s plenty of interesting guitar playing on the album, courtesy of McCombs and Jeff Parker. As thousands of guitarists stuck in a pentatonic rut can tell you, after decades of playing it can be hard not to fall back into a comfort zone. In Tortoise, avoiding the usual guitar sounds and riffs is key to making the whole thing work.
“Jeff and I have developed things we’re comfortable doing. His [method] is more based on a deep knowledge of harmony and melody, and trying to move away from certain clichés of guitar playing. My thing is more intuitive and about struggling to play something interesting yet also not cliché.”
The guitarists’ methodical work has paid off, resulting in music that is anything but over-familiar. Maybe their slow pace is the key to that success, after all.
- Touch is out now via Nonesuch.
- This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.
