* En anglais uniquement
Tangents are a self-described "post-everything improv" group from Sydney, Australia. They don't fit into any easy categories, as they are influenced equally by free jazz, modern classical composition, and electronic music styles such as drum'n'bass. Albums like 2021's
Timeslips & Chimeras are as likely to feature glitchy electronic textures as clattering drums and tense strings in their freewheeling improvisations, which are performed by anywhere from two to five members of the group.
The band's participants include
Triosk's
Adrian Lim-Klumpes (keyboards, marimba, vibraphone), electronic producer Ollie Bown of British duo
Icarus,
FourPlay String Quartet cellist
Peter Hollo, and both members of
Spartak (drummer
Evan Dorrian and guitarist Sia Ahmad). Following the group's 2013 debut, I,
Tangents signed to Temporary Residence, which released their sophomore effort, 2016's Stateless, as well as 2018's
New Bodies.
Tangents started performing in 2010, and their debut album, I, was mastered by Chicago indie/post-rock veteran
Casey Rice and released by hellosQuare Recordings/Not Applicable in 2013. In 2014,
Tangents recorded a piece titled "Soundtrack to a Walk in the Dark" for experimental radio program Ears Have Ears on Sydney-based FBi Radio.
Tangents opened for Japanese group
Mono during their 2015 tour of Australia and New Zealand. The band then signed to Temporary Residence for the release of its second album, Stateless, which appeared in July of 2016. The album was more rhythmic and urgent than their prior work, and its lead track, "Jindabyne," was remixed by
Four Tet, whose post-rock outfit
Fridge had previously released material on Temporary Residence. Two years later,
Tangents' Stents + Arteries EP preceded the group's third full-length,
New Bodies. The album was nominated for the Australian Music Prize.
Risk Reaps Reward, improvised live on the air at the studios of Melbourne's Triple R, appeared in July of 2020, followed by the digital release of studio album
Timeslips two months later. After the recording of these albums, Ahmad left the band. In 2021,
Timeslips was paired with a subsequently recorded album and given a full physical and digital release as
Timeslips & Chimeras. ~ Paul Simpson