Australian group
Tangents
have continually tightened their approach to rhythmic improvisation, with each successive release sounding more natural without fitting into any categories or conventions.
Timeslips & Chimeras
is a double album that displays the group's gift for spontaneous creation as well as their post-production studio creativity. Originally released digitally in 2020, the first half,
Timeslips
, was mainly recorded in a single day, and is more closely based on improvisations. The individual tracks seem too focused to be excerpts cut from an endless jam session, but there's nothing rigid about them, and they flow in unpredictable ways. "Vessel" is an early standout, with a shimmering Rhodes melody recurring like a flash of a poignant memory, and
Nick Calligeros
' distant trumpet playing lighting up the night sky in the background. "Old Organs" is a prime example of how
dissolve boundaries between synthetic and organic instrumentation, with intricate, raindrop-like beat patterns similar to the grey-area drum'n'bass of producers like
ASC
and
Sam KDC
, later joined by propulsive live drumming. "Debris" is slower and uneasier, with much heavier layers of guitar noise recalling
Mogwai
at their most imposing, pushing into full force by the track's end. While
is already quite technology-forward, second part
Chimeras
is more deconstructive, with more post-production effects and overdubs. Tracks like "Lilliputian" and "Timeslip" are murkier and less stable than some of the band's other pieces, and "Lost Track" has more broken electronic beats while maintaining a jazzy sophistication. "Chimera" is more of a tense ambient study in which a stately drum beat and solemn violin and piano eventually emerge. The double album compellingly demonstrates how
create their own distinctive musical language, then rewrite it as they go along. ~ Paul Simpson