Forward Into Adulthood

Tortue announce a new album, a release show and a planned hiatus.

On Tortue’s latest release Summer, In Algiers, the band is smaller, tighter and more focused while keeping the wild ride of timing and rhythmic changes at the forefront of the group’s sound. Prior to this release, the band’s total recorded output consisted of six pop-gressive flavoured indie rock jams split over two digital EPs, both released in January 2015. In many ways, Summer, In Algiers is a big step up.

“For us, these songs represent the sound we’re really trying to achieve as a band at the moment,” said Tortue’s Aidan Bullock. “We’ve gone through many changes over the past few years just really trying to find an identity. We have always been trying to lean towards a meaner more aggressive sound derived from punk and doom/sludge influences. However we really like to mess with our audience in terms of weird time signatures and sudden changes in the music. With this collection of tunes I believe we have truly and finally captured that sound.”

In addition to the stronger songwriting and musicianship that really stands out on Summer, In Algiers, the overall recording quality is an equal step up, putting the project on par with many other strong releases to surface from Fredericton acts this year.

The recording also benefits from the mastering talents of Corey Bonnevie, who is quickly becoming New Brunswick’s most trusted pair of ears having engineered, mixed or mastered 2016 recordings by Motherhood, LAPS, Right Shitty, Tooth & The Fang, Cellarghost and others.

“I think this is some of our best work yet,” said Bullock. “We recorded ourselves in my parent’s basement and it just felt right to do it DIY. We are very picky in the recording process and almost require control over every aspect. We did get Corey Bonnevie of Little You, Little Me to master the tracks and he did an amazing job. We couldn’t be happier with this EP.”

For this recording, the band’s lineup includes Bullock on guitar and vocals, Connor MacAuley on bass and Matthew Blanchard on drums. There are also guest appearances by Motherhood’s Brydon Crain who contributes vocals on one track and David in the Dark’s Kevin Belyea who contributed some outstanding guitar work.

Anyone familiar with the band’s earlier releases will recognize two tracks that appear on Summer, In Algiers. The band chose to include the songs GHL and Superchamp among the six other tracks that make up the album, a move that may help fans of Tortue’s earlier work shift into the band’s heavier sound.

“We wanted to re-record those two tracks because they are some of our proudest creations,” said Bullock. “We are proud of them, but because our sound has changed so much, and also because of some line-up changes, we thought that maybe it would be beneficial to try our hand at them both and get the sound we wanted out of those tracks.”

The album’s release also comes paired with the news that the band will be going on hiatus after playing a show this week to celebrate the album’s release. Just as the band’s sound and its musician’s skills have come so far since 2015’s Case of the Mondays and Abe, so too has their collective understanding of what the band means and where it fits within their lives.

“We’re fairly young and we’re at a point in our lives where we may not have as much time to spend on a project like this as we progress into adulthood,” said Bullock. “It seems appropriate to release this now before we go back to school and move on with our lives. We are taking a hiatus from shows after this to rest and take some time in between the chaos of school to work on new material and craft a more professional live set.”

Catch the band playing this Thursday.