The Tangent (for one) – all trimmed and slimmed down but no less potent.

Release Date: 10th May 2024

Label: Inside Out Music

Format:  Limited Deluxe Collector’s Edition CD Mediabook (including bonus track and extensive 24-page booklet) / Gatefold 180g 2LP vinyl (also including bonus track) / Digital.

The Tangent for one, sees Andy Tillison take and keep a hold of the reins. The reason being a year when other members of the band – Luke Machin, Jonas Reingold et al –   have been touring all over the world with the likes of Steve Hackett, Soft Machine, Karnataka, David Cross, It Bites, Cyan and others, opportunities for The Tangent to regroup and record appeared limited to the extent of being non-existent. 2023 therefore became the year of The Tangent in ‘absolutist’ guise (while trying not to mention Herr Musk) in the form of an album entirely the work of one person.

It could easily be considered a solo album with Andy taking on artwork, layout, design, lyrics, composition, performance, recording, production, mixing, mastering and authoring. But to be fair, as our chat with Andy and even just a cursory listen to To Follow Polaris reveals, it’s totally Tangent. “I could not have begun to make this record without having had the experiences of working with the band,” he says, “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”

Produced between January and November 2023, the album features Andy using his massed keyboard rig as normal, but adds to the mix his first ever released performance on bass and his second on electronic drums. With electric and acoustic guitars and electronic wind controller, this is a full (one man) band recording in every sense of the word and one which lyrically carries the expected Tangent bite.

But it’s not all bite on Polaris. Yes, you might spit your tea out if you’re unlucky enough to have a mouthful when Andy pipes in with a vitriolic “Some twats decide we need a war now!” in the centrepiece of The Anachronism where he vents his spleen with a famous Tangent rant.

However, the tone from the beginning shows more than a flash of optimism. The skittering electronic intro is as far from Prog as you could get but we’re soon into a daring rush of organ and keyboard lines before Andy heads in with his “I follow the North Star, when all around me seems to be going South” opening line. Whatever’s heading South we’ll soon find out, but there’s a breezy optimism particularly in the fanfare of the dancing synth lines and some climactic moments. A couple of drum fills and a space to highlight the bass line a reminder that it’s all Andy’s own work!

The world weariness and self doubt that pokes it’s head above the surface in The Like In The Darkness gives a melancholiness that contrasts sharply with the opening optimism. At several points, the tune threatens to take off yet retains the moodiness until the “Nothing I do requested...” section that offers some resigned anger and frustration at the situation. The easy vibe that dominates the middle section continues into The Fine Line, Theo Travis’ sax not overtly missed as the cool vibes are channelled with a classy proficiency along with a grand array of keyboard texturing.

However, it’s the twenty minute epic The Anachronism gets the kitchen sink thrown in. Swelling from the subtle opening where political speech soundbites combine with the pulse that hints back to Marillion’s A Few Words Form The Dead, there’s the roar of Emerson-esque organ duelling with some growling basslines which see Andy channelling his inner Reingold with a dash of Squire. It’s all a musical match for the futility of the power of the ‘X’. Note too that The Anachronism clocks in at 21:12….

Having done the hard work, what feels like the encore of The Single does what it says on the tin. Not a band known for singles or heaven forbid, radio edits (although there is one for The North Sky), there’s a hint of a return to optimism by way of celebration in getting a moment in a capsule of the past.

Ultimately, although To Follow Polaris is a the result of a one man band, it’s quintessential Tangent. Grumpy Roger might sniff (as he did back in the late Eighties) as his old pal Dave came up with a ‘very clever forgery’ but there’s no way you could call anything on Polaris anything less than 110% authentic and true to The Tangent cause.

Here’s album opener The North Sky:

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