Het album wordt uitgebracht via InsideOut Music en is de opvolger maar tegelijk het vervolg op Proxy uit 2018. Men zet de bandfilosofie van het vieren van de gouden eeuw van prog voort. En brengt dit naar het heden waarbij nieuwe wegen verkent worden die de muziek in de toekomst kan inslaan. Auto Reconnaissance staat vol met progrock, sublieme jazz, humor, moderne R&B, funk en soul. Als uitsmijter trakteert The Tangent de luisteraars op een 28 minuten lang emotioneel epos over het thuisland van de band: Engeland.
Commentaar van Andy Tillison: “I utterly refuse to accept that Progressive Rock Music is some kind of museum piece. It is actually a living and breathing movement that has a past, a present and above all, a future. It once had an album-chart-topping golden age, but the genre was never about that. It has subtly and virally kept itself alive for decades where many new musical genres have risen to glory and faded away.”
Voor deze release wordt Andy Tillison opnieuw vergezeld door Jonas Reingold (The Sea Within, Karmakanic, The Flower Kings), Luke Machin (Maschine), Theo Travis (Soft Machine) en Steve Roberts (Godsticks). Samen brengen ze een album tot leven dat is beïnvloed door onder meer ELP, The Isley Brothers, Steely Dan, Aphex Twin, National Health, Rose Royce, Squarepusher en Return To Forever.
Andy Tillison vervolgt: “In the past 6 years the line-up of The Tangent has become more stable than at the beginning. I think that the identity of the Tangent as a “Group” rather than a “Project” started to come together on the album ‘A Spark In The Aether’ in 2014. Essentially Luke, Jonas, Theo and myself have appeared on the last four albums, and we added Steve Roberts for the tour that supported ‘Slow Rust’ in 2017 and we’ve settled on this line-up. I hope for a while because I find this unit to be productive, in tune with the band’s purpose and manifesto and a lot of fun to boot. The new album ‘Auto Reconnaissance’ is the first time that the core band has been identical in structure to its predecessor. For the first time I feel that everyone is totally onboard with the fusion of Jazz, Prog, Punkishness and electronica that The Tangent likes to cook up. We are a good group of friends and although we don’t meet up often, it’s a real blast when we do. I’ve always considered Ed Unitsky the cover artist to have been a recurring member of the cast – his artwork has been a huge part of our story and although we move away, we always return.”
Tracklist
Life On Hold
Jinxed In Jersey
Under Your Spell
The Tower Of Babel
Lie Back & Think Of England
The Midas Touch
Proxima (Bonus Track)
Het artwork is wederom van de hand van Ed Unitsky.