IDLES are back with new album TANGK. Their fifth studio album illustrates the latest in their continued evolution. Highlighting a stronger blend of the experimental, electronic sound we heard on 2021’s CRAWLER, while also showing an appreciation for love, growth, and gratitude too.
As someone who enjoyed the shift in sound on CRAWLER, I was looking forward to hearing how IDLES built on it for TANGK. While the days of delivering pure fiery, guitar-driven anthems back-to-back are long gone, the new record houses songs that hit hard in a different way. ‘A Gospel’ is something you would not have heard on an early IDLES record, but the product is this sustained progression in sound and mindset is probably one of their best. Its strings-ladened verses are gorgeous, and there’s hope and sadness in place of tension. It is wonderful, and the song I keep returning to over and over.
‘IDEA 01’ opens the record with a Radiohead-esque intro. Comprised of shimmering keys, minimal percussion, and subtle synthesisers, this truly is a step into a new era for the band. Considering Nigel Godrich co-produced the album, being transported back to a King Of Limbs vibe comes as no surprise. Its eery sound is met with Joe Talbot’s dreary, wandering vocals, that take us through lyrics of anguish and confusion, marking a steady step into the album.
‘Gift Horse’ follows with a more direct sound. Launching a steady rhythm against ominous basslines that add needed snap to the ears. The single feels more like a traditional IDLES song, with its sense of urgency and pure desire to flood the room with noise. It has a well-defined groove to it, which fits with the ethos of Joe wanting to create something that’s there to make you dance. It’s definitely an earworm and one that’s hard to resist enjoying.
‘POP POP POP’ combines overblown bass with rigid percussion to blend the sounds of IDLES together well. It retracts into the background a touch to allow space to add tension into the mix, and leads nicely into ‘Roy’, which features a chorus that feels on the edge of not working, but somehow does.
Lead single ‘Dancer’ hits hard even after months of repeated listens. Its sweeping strings makes way for the album’s most immediate instrumental. Diving deep into a groove-laden, rigid sound that sinks into the hips.
With this mix of old and new styles, the track listing could have been amended to incorporate the two a little smoother. TANGK sets off with most songs that lean into this more experimental, slower-paced sound, which is fine, but does mean certain songs fall victim to a fatigue of the same sound, and aren’t able to shine as much as they should. If the likes of ‘Hall & Oates’ and ‘Gratitude’ appeared earlier on the record, it would flow much better, and deliver the material in a more consistent way.
TANGK builds on the foundation set by CRAWLER to show IDLES’ continued evolution as a band. If they continued to release records that had the same fervour as Brutalism through to ULTRA MONO, they – and us – would probably have burned out by now. By adding more experimental and electronic sounds to their discography, it has freshened things up. The result is probably their most ambitious record yet, revelling in the chance to reveal other facets of their sound that take them further from the ideas and opinions of their early work. While I feel it restrains itself a little too hard in parts, it still makes for good listening, and getting to witness this sustained evolution almost in real time is quite exciting.
TANGK is a great record, and another welcome insight into a band continuing to manoeuvre through an ever-changing mindset and world.