‘Tangk’ is the anticipated fifth album from IDLES and the follow up to their Grammy-nominated ‘Crawler’
The album opens with `IDEA 01` with a pulse like beating heart and a tinkling running key sound with lyrics that are gently shared and reflective. We have a pounding beat that drives us through `Gift Horse` with words that are shared in a fairly swaying detached manner. There are robust passages that pop up throughout the life of this track.
`POP POP POP` is a pretty hypnotic submission with short statements sung or shared over a rhythmic repetitive back beat. Freudenfreude which equates to finding pleasure in another person’s good fortune is a word that is shared six times through this mostly upbeat sentiment. There`s an almost gentle tribal beat to `Roy` with some nigh on retro sounding guitar riffs initially before the track becomes more vigorous musically with the surreal emotive commentary possibly or seemingly an ode of devotion come affection.
`A Gospel` appears to be a realisation of a romance that has fractured where the narrator is heartbroken. The musical accompaniment of a piano that doesn`t entirely sound in tune adds a further poignancy to this distraught offering. I thought `Dancer` had a magnetic pull to it with lyrics that are shared fairly rapidly and matter of factly with some enchanting backing harmonies sprinkled throughout.
`Grace` is another delightful tenderly shared number that seems to be searching for something, mercy, or redemption possibly, while confirming that all you have to offer in return, is love. We have a more aggressive powerful piece in `Hall & Oates` which namechecks the pop rock blue-eye soul boys Daryl Hall and John Oates as being the music that binds a couple, although recently they have become estranged in an ongoing and fractious legal battle, so this may well be altered.
`Jungle` has a kind of appealing Burundi beat with the lyrical content not something I could really make head nor tail of… We have a shredded fuzzy sort of aural soundscape on `Gratitude` initially before it becomes swiftly rhythmic with the vocals that are robustly shared on the faster parts but quite honeyed on the more serener and calmer fragments.
The album closes out with `Monolith` which does have a fairly deep monumental sound with a saxophone tone shared in the dying embers of this final submission.
The band have said that `Tangk` is their album of gratitude and power. To me it may be less incendiary that their previous releases, but it seems more mature, possibly redemptive, and spiritual, a rebirth or sorts but no less powerful for it.
Rating 9/10
