Tracklist:

1. Tailem Bend
2. Karma Comes
3. Can’t Do That
4. Golden Arch
5. Skyclock
6. You Do
7. Morph
8. Commandment

It wasnt meant to be six years between albums for ORB. The Geelong-forged trio last graced us with a studio offering in the form of 2018s characteristically heady The Space Between, before touring Europe and America back-to-back supporting King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard in 2019. But time rarely passes as expected, whether slowed by pandemics, side pursuits or other vagaries of daily life. Whats important is that a fourth album is finally here, with enough byways and trapdoors to keep us well occupied indeed. The long-awaited Tailem Blend LP arrives July 12th 2024 on Fuzz Club in Europe and North America.

Saturated in vintage warmth and depth, Tailem Bend showcases ORBs knack for achieving tuneful hypnosis amidst a dank roominess. It snakes through big, brash riffing as often as it does sun-dappled psych pop, with memorable rhythmic runs and funky wah licks along the way. As signalled by the cover artwork from Parsnips Paris Richens which depicts either a swan or a fish, depending on how you look at it ORB have returned with an album that rewards taking it in from multiple angles. Theres plenty of the band we know and love, but theres also enough of the new to prompt a healthy succession of double takes.

There are still the inevitable avalanches of fuzz, but also present now are mellower passages and a renewed focus on rhythm and space. Its not a wholesale departure, but its distinctive enough to be reflected in the album title itself. The source? Tailem Bend is a quiet town in South Australia whose name was evocative enough to catch the bands collective eye on tour. Conjuring images for them of some lost prog act, the name reportedly derives from the Ngarrindjeri word thelim, referring to a sharp bend in the nearby Murray River. That made it especially suited to a record that packs many dramatic turns of its own all without breaking its natural flow.