''Tangk'' is the fifth studio album by the British rock band

Idles Idles are an English post-punk band formed in Bristol in 2009. The band consists of Adam Devonshire (bass), Joe Talbot (singer), Joe Talbot (vocals), Mark Bowen (guitar), Lee Kiernan (guitar), and Jon Beavis (drums). After spending eight yea ...

, released on 16 February 2024 through

Partisan Records Partisan Records is an independent record label with offices in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles, as well as in New York City, where the company was co-founded in 2007 by Tim Putnam and Ian Wheeler. The label, initially run out of Putnam's South B ...

. It was produced by

Nigel Godrich Nigel Timothy Godrich (born 28 February 1971) is an English record producer, recording engineer and musician. He has worked with acts including Radiohead, Travis, Beck, Air, Paul McCartney, U2, R.E.M., Pavement, Roger Waters, Arcade Fire and ...

Kenny Beats Kenneth Charles Blume III (born May 10, 1991), known professionally as Kenny Beats, is an American record producer, DJ, audio engineer, and songwriter. Early life Kenneth Blume III was born and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. He got an early ...

and the Idles member Mark Bowen. It was promoted with the singles "

Dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

", "Grace" and "Gift Horse". It received positive reviews and is nominated at the

67th Annual Grammy Awards The 67th Annual Grammy Awards honored the best recordings, compositions, and artists from September 16, 2023, to August 30, 2024, as chosen by the members of the Recording Academy, on February 2, 2025. In its 22nd year at Crypto.com Arena in L ...

for

Best Rock Album The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre. Honors in sever ...

Background and recording

The vocalist, Joe Talbot, said that he "needed love" so he "made it. egave love out to the world and it feels like magic. This is our album of gratitude and power. All love songs. All is love." Talbot said that he wanted to "make people dance" and "feel the love that eneed in life", as well as wanting to make the music "infectious in a way that makes people feel, not think" and be "part of something electric again". ''Tangk'' was Idles' first work with a major producer,

, who is known for his work with

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

. The band members saw Godrich as among "the upper echelon" and had assumed they would never be able to create something of his calibre. However, Bowen said: "What we learned is that it's not that difficult to attain if you put work into it. We learned that there are no geniuses." Bowen said Godrich taught him how to use

tape loops In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among con ...

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

and

delay Delay or DeLay may refer to: People * B. H. DeLay (1891–1923), American aviator and movie stunt pilot * Dorothy DeLay (1917–2002), American violin instructor * Florence Delay (born 1941), French academician and actor * Jan Delay, stage name ...

in new ways to create textures. James Murphy and Nancy Whang of

LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem is an American Dance-punk#Contemporary dance-punk, dance-punk revival band from Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy (electronic musician), James Murphy, of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy (vocals ...

contributed additional vocals on "Dancer".

Release

The album was announced following the band's surprise show at the Village Underground in London on 17 October 2023. It was promoted with the singles "

", "Grace" and "Gift Horse". The ''Tangk'' world tour started on 29 February 2024 in Porto, and will end on 7 December 2024 at the

O2 Apollo Manchester The O2 Apollo Manchester (known locally as The Apollo and formerly Manchester Apollo and ABC Ardwick) is a concert venue in Ardwick Green, Manchester, England. It is a Grade II listed building, with a capacity of 3,500 (2,514 standing, 986 seats ...

, England.

Critical reception

''Tangk'' has a score of 78 out of 100 on the review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, based on 25 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception. '' Uncut'' stated that "''Tangk'' is more about diverse, swooning sonic details that support troubled singer Joe Talbot's redemption", while ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

'' felt that "despite its subject matter, the Bristol tykes are still sonically and vocally as visceral as ever". ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

''s Andrew Perry concluded that the album is "still hardly for the faint-hearted pop-picker, but it categorically repositions its makers as contenders in the biggest arena, as tuneful, approachable geezers capable of love, and sharing it with the world". Jamie Wilde of '' The Skinny'' summarised the album as "a raucous expression of love" as well as "raw, vulnerable and inimitably Idles". ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

''s Elizabeth Aubrey wrote that ''Tangk'' "may bring us a more compassionate, empathetic version of the band who seem to be trying to find something that resembles peace after years of tumult" but that "they still haven't quite lost their punk spirit". Nick Seip of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' stated that "those familiar with Idles's past work may be surprised to find much of their characteristic righteous anger missing here" and their "slower songs struggle to command such attention" but "on a technical level, ''Tangk'' underpins its more personal and emotional lyrics with rich, layered arrangements". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

''s Arielle Gordon wrote that "Idles seem poised to let down their ironclad armor and reveal a far more interesting and nuanced band, just as soon as Talbot is ready to relinquish his stubborn and self-defeating grasp".

Year-end lists

Track listing

Personnel

Idles *Jon Beavis – drums, backing vocals *Mark Bowen – lead guitar,

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

, keyboards,

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

, design, backing vocals,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

*Adam Devonshire – bass guitar, backing vocals *Lee Kiernan – rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Joe Talbot – lead vocals, artwork, design Additional musicians *Colin Webster – saxophone *Aaron Paris – strings, string arrangement * James Murphy – additional vocals ("Dancer") *

Nancy Whang LCD Soundsystem is an American dance-punk revival band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy, of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy (vocals, various instruments), Nancy Whang (synthesizer, keyboards, vocals), Pat Mahone ...

– additional vocals ("Dancer") Technical *

– production *

– production, mixing *Mikko Gordon –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

(all tracks), additional production ("Monolith") * Robert C. Ludwig – mastering * Korey Richey – engineering for LCD Soundsystem ("Dancer") *Maurice Talbot – engineering assistance *Daniel Cayotta – engineering assistance Visuals *Joshua Hughes-Games – artwork, design *Aris Chatman – centerfold photography *Tom Ham - lyric + photo book, 'Dancer' and 'Hall & Oates' Photography *Cassidy Rose Hill – costume design

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2024 albums Albums produced by Kenny Beats Albums produced by Nigel Godrich Idles (band) albums Partisan Records albums