TANGLED THOUGHTS OF LEAVING
Tangled Thoughts of Leaving are an instrumental band from Perth, Western Australia.
As a ‘heavy’ band with a significant emphasis on piano, TToL are unique within the landscape of post-metal and post-rock bands where they ply their trade. A strong improvisational streak, rooted in influences of prog and jazz, clashes with the aggressive nature of hardcore and noise, to form the basis of TToL’s sound.
TToL released their first EP, Tiny Fragments, in 2008 before releasing a split with Sydney’s sleepmakeswaves a year later. TToL’s full-length debut, Deaden the Fields, was released in Australia and Japan in 2011 to outstanding reviews. Prior to their maiden tour of Europe in 2013, TToL released the Failed by Man and Machine EP, which experimented with shorter song lengths and an overall lighter tone.
After returning from Europe - including a slot at the prestigious experimental music event Dunk! Festival in Belgium - the band decided to embrace the more noise-driven and chaotic nature of their live sets during recording. Complete with much longer tracks and improvised movements, TToL set out to attempt to capture these elements on record.
This all led to the release of Yield to Despair in 2015. Yield was a much darker, heavier release, layered with noise and field samples and not a trace of hope.
Original guitarist Andrew McDonald departed the band in 2016, with long time touring guitar tech and all around nice-guy Paul Briggs stepping into the fold. The band immediately started work on the follow up to Yield with Briggs on board and the direction of the sound changed again. What became of this was No Tether, out July 2018. No Tether is a more sonically adventurous record than Yield - it has faster, more angular sections fuelled by Briggs’ guitar work duelling with Ron Pollard’s piano.
In late 2018, Ben Greene announced his departure from TToL after 9 years behind the kit. Gracie Smith joined TToL in January 2019 just in time for an Australian tour with Russian Circles and We Lost the Sea - followed by a 3-week headline tour of Europe.
In June 2020, TToL released Dread Sessions - Volume 1. Dread Sessions is a live studio album, capturing re-recordings of tracks from each of TToL’s three full-length albums. The intent is to create a snapshot of the current line-up - Ron Pollard, Gracie Smith, Paul Briggs & Luke Pollard - and the tracks that formed the core of the band’s 2019 touring set list. Some of the tracks have undergone significant evolution over the years - Deep Rivers Run Quiet is significantly heavier, Yield to Despair has become even more primal and menacing - so Dread Sessions presents the perfect opportunity to capture this growth.