“To Follow Polaris” is a new “full-on” Progressive Rock album by The Tangent, set to be released on May 10th, 2024. That’s not necessarily a surprise, that’s what the band is known for. But at the same time, it’s something else too. As Andy jokes, playing on the Jaws strapline, he says “well this time it’s actually no personnel.”
To coincide with the announcement, a video has just been launched for the track ‘The North Sky’, albeit in an edited form. Watch it now below.
In a year when members of The Tangent could be seen onstage all over the world with Steve Hackett, Soft Machine, Karnataka, David Cross, It Bites, Cyan, and others, plus on recordings by those artists and The Anchoret, The Michael Dunn Project, Argos and Retreat From Moscow, it became clear that there was not going to be time to get together for anything more than one gig in April 2023.
So the band agreed that the band’s leader/main writer Andy Tillison would keep the material coming and would make an album by The Tangent entirely alone. It would still be The Tangent. Just for one.
“Besides which,” Andy says, “I’ve always wanted to do this, use what I have learned from Luke, Jonas, Steve, Theo, and many other alumni and take it to final production. Now was the time!”
What transpired over the following year is in one sense an “absolutist” solo album and is entirely the work of one person in all aspects including artwork, layout, design, lyrics, composition, performance, recording, production, mixing, mastering, and authoring. But in another sense, it’s totally The Tangent.
“I could not have begun to make this record without having had the experience of working with the band. So although the different instruments are not attempted to be played in the actual style of the normal lineup, they are inspired by the kind of things these guys do”
“To Follow Polaris” will be available as a Limited Deluxe Collector’s Edition CD Mediabook (including bonus track and extensive 24-page booklet, Gatefold 180g 2LP vinyl (also including bonus track), & as a Digital Album. Pre-order it now HERE.
Conceptually Andy claims the album is, ahem, “highly optimistic” but regular listeners to his work will anticipate correctly that this optimism will not be ill-founded or over-easy and will be highly critical of obstacles to that optimism and the album will look as much into the dark as it does into the light.
