Five years after the release of their last studio album, legendary UK musical institution, Soft Machine, return with a brand new album, \u201cOther Doors.\u201d Boasting new material and two numbers drawn from their extensive historical repertoire, \u201cOther Doors\u201d finds the band in their usual fiery form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Featuring John Etheridge (guitars), Theo Travis (saxes, flutes, Fender Rhodes piano, electronics), Fred Thelonious Baker (Fretless bass), John Marshall (drums), Other Doors also features two guest appearances from long-serving bassist Roy Babbington, who retired from the band in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOther Doors\u201d was recorded at Temple Music Studios, a facility owned by the late Jon Hiseman during July and August 2022. It\u2019s a location of which the band is particularly fond, explains John Etheridge. \u201cWorking at Jon Hiseman\u2019s studio was special, especially with Ru Lemer who is a brilliant engineer. He\u2019s fantastically quick and that\u2019s very good as we record mainly live in the studio. It\u2019s come out really well and I think it sounds great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That ability to work quickly on takes as an ensemble has resulted in a fresh-sounding series of top-flight performances whose typically knotty and sometimes complex themes frequently give way to explosively discursive improvisations. As Theo Travis observes, \u201cThe interesting thing about recording free improvisations is you’re not playing to a plan or a grid or a blueprint, so you don\u2019t know what’s coming, and you don’t know what’s coming until it’s gone. At which moment you’re thinking about the next thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The album is brimming with that fast-moving creativity. It\u2019s been a kind of tradition with the group to include new arrangements of older Soft Machine numbers from the band\u2019s illustrious back catalogue. These have included numbers as varied as \u201cChloe and the Pirates,\u201d \u201cKings and Queens,\u201d \u201cOut-Bloody-Rageous,\u201d etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along with exciting new compositions, on \u201cOther Doors\u201d they\u2019ve revisited the very first album, originally released in 1968, to include Kevin Ayers\u2019 \u201cJoy Of A Toy.\u201d Fred Baker, makes his studio debut with Soft Machine. A well-known figure on the Canterbury Scene not only is he the perfect choice for the group but he\u2019s also a long-term fan of the repertoire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The album also contains \u201cPenny Hitch,\u201d a track originally heard on 1973\u2019s Soft Machine \u201cSeven.\u201d This features the first of two appearances of Roy Babbington who provides the bass lines underpinning Karl Jenkins\u2019 composition while Fred plays the sinuous lead melody on his fretless bass. The pair also worked together as a duo on \u201cNow! Is The Time,\u201d a number originally based on a theme Babbington brought into the sessions, with Fred and Roy both adding and expanding the scope of the piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the album ushers in a new member in the shape of Fred Baker, it also acts as a fond farewell to drummer John Marshall, who joined Soft Machine midway through the recording of 1972\u2019s \u201cFifth.\u201d At the age of 81 Marshall has decided to retire making \u201cOther Doors\u201d his final studio album with the group, and the final album of his glorious career. Indeed, Marshall is in whip-cracking form throughout the album bringing his trademark musicality and decisive presence. With \u201cOther Doors,\u201d he brings his distinguished career to a rousing conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Intense, celebratory, and consistently impressive. \u201cOther Doors\u201d is the sound of a group determined to press forwards with an integrity and sense of purpose that\u2019s quintessentially and definitively Soft Machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JOHN ETHERIDGE – guitars
THEO TRAVIS – tenor & soprano sax, flutes, Fender Rhodes, electronics
FREDDY BAKER – fretless bass guitar
JOHN MARSHALL – drums
special guest
ROY BABBINGTON – bass guitar (tunes 2 and 9)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The updated tour dates are (with Asaf Sirkis permanently substituting John Marshall who has retired):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the first world tour date in Toledo at the MoonJune Festival
Sep 29 – Toledo, Spain (Circulo de Arte)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
North American Tour
Oct 04 – Sellersville, PA, USA (Sellersville Theater)
Oct 05 – Baltimore, MD, USA (Keystone Korner)
Oct 06 – New York, NY, USA (Iridium)
Oct 07 – New York, NY, USA (Iridium)
Oct 08 – Woodstock, NY, USA (Colony)
Oct 10 – Rochester, NY, USA (Lovin\u2019 Cup)
Oct 11 – Syracuse, NY, USA (Average Joe)
Oct 12 – Albany, NY, USA (Linda WAMC)
Oct 13 – Quebec City, QC, Canada (Salle d\u2019Youville)
Oct 14 – Quebec City, QC, Canada (Salle d\u2019Youville)
Oct 16 – Ottawa, ON, Canada (Rainbow)
Oct 17 – Toronto, ON, Canada (Garrison)
Oct 18 – Waterloo, ON, Canada (Jazz Room)
Oct 19 – Detroit, MI, USA (Joy’s Manor)
Oct 22 – Milwaukee, WI, USA (Shank Hall)
Oct 24 – Chicago, IL, USA (Reggie\u2019s)
Oct 25 – Cincinnati, OH, USA (Ludlow Garage)
Oct 26 – Indianapolis, IN, USA (Irving Theater)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Europe:
Nov 05 – Hull, UK (Wrecking Ball)
Nov 06 – Kinross, UK (Green Hotel)
Nov 10 – Royal Tunbridge Wells, UK (Forum)
Nov 11 – Lewes, UK (Conservative Club)
Nov 14 – Milton Keynes, UK (The Stables)
Nov 17 – Luton, UK (The Bear)
Nov 19 – Exeter, UK (Phoenix Art)
Nov 23 – Katowice, Poland (Rialto Theater)
Nov 24 – Warsaw, Poland (Hybrydy Klub)
Nov 25 – Bydgoszcz, Poland (Ku\u017ania Klub)
Nov 26 – Pozna\u0144, Poland (Culture Ctr)
Nov 30 – Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg (Rockhal)
Dec 02 – Tilburg, Netherlands (Paradox)
Dec 03 – Zoetermeer, Netherlands (Boerderij)
Feb 07 – Guildford, UK (Boileroom)
Feb 08 – London, UK (Signature Brew)
Feb 09 – Canterbury, UK (Gulbenkian Theatre)
Feb 11 – Market Harbough, UK (Jazz Club)
Feb 18 – Farsley, UK (Old Woollen)
Feb 19 – Manchester, UK (Band On The Wall)
Feb 20 – Wolverhampton, UK (Robin 2)
Feb 21 – Brighton, UK (The Chalk)
Feb 22 – Cardiff, UK(Stepping Stones)
Feb 24 – Cheltenham, UK (DEYA Brewery)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More gigs to be announced, in the UK, Europe, Japan, South America as well another tour in the USA in the Summer of 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n