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Oct 06, 2015 Tortoise By Christopher Roberts

Chicago experimental music mainstays Tortoise have announced their first new album since 2009 and shared the first single from it. The Catastrophist is due out January 22, 2016 via Thrill Jockey. Below you can listen to its first single, “Gesceap.” Also below are a bunch of tour dates.

Inspiration for the album began in 2010 when the City of Chicago asked the band to compose a suite of music connected to city’s jazz and improvised music communities. The band decided to rework some of that music for the new album. “When we finally got around to talking about a new record, the obvious solution to begin with was to take those pieces and see what else we could do with them,” said Tortoise’s John McEntire in a press release. “It turned out that for them to work for Tortoise, they needed a bit more of a rethink in terms of structure. They’re all pretty different in the sense that at first they were just heads and solos. Now, they’re orchestrated and complex.”

The album features what’s described as “a downright strange cover” of David Essex’s 1973 hit “Rock On” that features vocals from Todd Rittmann of U.S. Maple and Dead Rider. Yo La Tengo’s Georgia Hubley also guests, singing on “Yonder Blue,” which is described as a “honest-to-goodness soul ballad.” Tortoise’s remaining lineup is Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Doug McCombs, and Jeff Parker.

Below is “Gesceap,” followed by the album’s tracklist and the band’s tour dates. Above is the album cover.

The Catastrophist Tracklist:

1. The Catastrophist
2. Ox Duke
3. Rock On
4. Gopher Island
5. Shake Hands With Danger
6. The Clearing Fills
7. Gesceap
8. Hot Coffee
9. Yonder Blue
10. Tesseract
11. At Odds With Logic

Tortoise Tour Dates:

Sat. Jan. 23 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall [In The Round performance]
Sun. Jan. 24 - Milwaukee, WI @ Mad Planet
Sun. Feb. 7 - Copenhagen, DK @ Vega Jr.
Mon. Feb. 8 - Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik
Tue. Feb. 9 - Berlin, DE @ Berghain
Wed. Feb. 10 - Antwerpen, BE @ Trix
Thu. Feb. 11 - Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli
Fri. Feb. 12 - St. Gallen, CH @ Palace
Sat. Feb. 13 - Geneva, CH @ Antigel Festival
Sun. Feb. 14 - Zürich, CH @ Stall 6
Mon. Feb. 15 - Reutlingen, DE @ Franz.K
Tue. Feb. 16 - Vienna, AT @ Arena
Wed. Feb. 17 - Budapest, HU @ A 38
Thu. Feb. 18 - Zagreb, HR @ Mochvara
Fri. Feb. 19 - Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv Club
Sat. Feb. 20 - Rome, IT @ Monk Club
Sun. Feb. 21 - Milan, IT @ Magnolia Club
Wed. March 9 - Minneapolis, MN @ The Cedar Cultural Center
Fri. March 11 - Ann Arbor, MI @ The Blind Pig
Sat. March 12 - Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
Sun. March 13 - Montreal, QC @ Fairmount
Mon. March 14 - Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse
Tue. March 15 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Wed. March 16 - New York, NY @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
Thu. March 17 - Brooklyn, NY @ Littlefield
Fri. March 18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Sat. March 19 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Sun. March 20 - Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern
Tue. March 22 - Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall
Wed. March 23 - Newport, KY @ Southgate House Revival
Thu. March 24 - Indianapolis, IN @ Radio Radio