Touch is the eighth studio album by American post-rock band Tortoise. It was released on October 24, 2025, through International Anthem Recording Company and Nonesuch Records. It received universal acclaim from critics.
Background Tortoise consists of Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire, and Jeff Parker. Touch is a follow-up to The Catastrophist (2016). It was recorded between the three cities where the band's members live: Los Angeles, California; Portland, Oregon; and Chicago, Illinois. It features contributions from Marta Sofia Honer, Skip VonKuske, and Tucker Martine.
On March 27, 2025, Tortoise released "Oganesson" as the lead single from Touch. On June 24, 2025, the band released Oganesson Remixes, an EP consisting of the original version of "Oganesson" and five remixes of the track by Saul Williams, Heba Kadry, Patrick Carney, Broken Social Scene, and Makaya McCraven. The album was released on October 24, 2025, through International Anthem Recording Company and Nonesuch Records.
Music videos were released for "Oganesson", "Layered Presence", "Works and Days", "A Title Comes", and "Rated OG".
Critical reception
Jeremy Levine of PopMatters described the album as "A cinematic record that is profoundly human and entirely spectral." Heather Phares of AllMusic commented that "all of Touch reflects the curiosity that has driven Tortoise since the beginning -- and still drives them all these years later." Meanwhile, Levi Dayan of The Quietus wrote, "even at its heights, Touch is always undermined by clashing musical elements, bland production and a general sense of awkwardness." Eric Hill of Exclaim! stated, "If Touch were the first album by a brand new band, it would likely be judged as an unequivocal triumph — but Tortoise suffer from the burden of their iconic back catalogue."
Accolades + Year-end lists for Touch Publication List Rank AllMusic AllMusic Best of 2025 Mojo The 75 Best Albums of 2025 PopMatters The 30 Best Rock Albums of 2025 Uncut Top 50 New Albums of 2025 The Wire Releases of the Year (2025 Rewind)
Track listing
Personnel Credits adapted from liner notes.
Dan Bitney – performance John Herndon – performance Douglas McCombs – performance John McEntire – performance, recording, mixing Jeff Parker – performance Tucker Martine – field recordings (3) Skip VonKuske – cello (5) Marta Sofia Honer – viola (5) Dave Cooley – mastering Heather Cantrell – scorpion photography Martin McEntire – scorpion sculpture øjeRum – collage image Jeremiah Chiu – layout, design
Charts + Chart performance for Touch Chart (2025) Peakposition
References
Further reading
External links