IDLES were long perceived as the standard-bearers of a furious, political post-punk, the embodiment of a British youth angry at austerity and identitarian retreat. Since the mid-2010s, the Bristol band led by Joe Talbot have built their reputation on raw energy and committed lyrics. TANGK, a fifth album, nonetheless effects an unexpected turn: that of love and tenderness.
The critics, enthusiastic (an 83 average across fourteen reviews), hail this risk-taking. Produced in part by Nigel Godrich, Radiohead’s accomplice, the record trades part of the original bite for a more atmospheric, more textured exploration, where beat and repetition take precedence over the wall of guitars. Praise goes to a new maturity, a widened palette.
Musically, TANGK — whose title evokes the onomatopoeia of a struck guitar string — cultivates groove and hypnosis. The rhythms are more danceable, the atmospheres more contemplative, Talbot’s voice moving from a bark to an almost pleading song. Without denying their energy, the band allow themselves gentleness, introspection, a form of disarming vulnerability.
This shift will not convince everyone. The faithful of the first hour, attached to the frontal power of the beginnings, may find the record less immediate, less cathartic. The wager of love as a subject — noble but risky — at times lapses into a repetition that verges on monotony. The daring has its shadow zones.
Verdict: 8/10. A courageous, sensitive record proving IDLES’ capacity to reinvent themselves without betrayal. A fertile sidestep, rightly hailed.
