O.R.B. - Tailem Bend LP

It wasn’t meant to be six years between albums for ORB. The Geelong-forged trio last graced us with a studio offering in the form of 2018’s 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.

What’s important is that a fourth album is finally here, with enough byways and trapdoors to keep us well occupied indeed. This isn’t the exact same ORB that we knew from past glories, however. There are still the inevitable avalanches of fuzz, but also present now are mellower passages and a renewed focus on rhythm and space. It’s not a wholesale departure, but it’s 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 band’s 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.

– By Doug Wallen