Tacoma Park have announced Baltimore, their new album for Centripetal Force, due April 24th on digital and vinyl. The North Carolina duo of Ben Felton and John Harrison — who traffic in a distinctive strain of astral Americana, pulling apart the familiar language of acoustic instrumentation and rebuilding it through kosmische-inspired improvisation — have shared “Untied” as the album’s first reveal, accompanied by a video, created by Felton himself.
Baltimore arrives as a record shaped by patience and restraint. Working largely from their respective home studios and often remotely, the duo spent considerable time editing down sprawling improvisations into something more concentrated. The result is an album that breathes deliberately, with space and silence doing as much work as the guitars, electronics, and sparing drums that populate it.
Mastered by Chuck Johnson — himself a North Carolinian with deep roots in the meditative and experimental — Baltimore feels like a logical step for a duo who have spent years honing their piecemeal, collage-like approach to composition. Synthetic and organic elements coexist without friction: electronics drift against guitar, structure gives way to drift, and drums appear only when the music demands a human pulse. It’s cinematic without being theatrical, immersive without being overwhelming.
Harrison and Felton describe Baltimore as an honest snapshot of where they found themselves during its making — navigating new families, changing neighbourhoods, and a noisy world — and that sense of recalibration runs through the record like a quiet current.
Vinyl preorders are open now. Baltimore is out April 24th via Centripetal Force.
Bandcamp: https://tacomapark.bandcamp.com/album/baltimore-2