The Orb Sends Chill Vibes To U.S., World

The new album, out Oct. 14, took only six months to write and record, and the process left tons of room for improvisation, which the group says is an exciting new stage in its evolution.

“Our concerts consist mostly of non-verbal communication and improvisation – a fertile process that we’ve brought to the studio, where we operate with very simple rules of engagement … and go wherever the flow takes us,” group member Thomas Fehlmann said in a press release. “We’re quite happy and a little bit proud that we’ve reached this level of unscripted levity with purely electronic means. We’re finessing ourselves, sort of, always looking for the next sonic surprise that leaves us rubbing our eyes about how the heck we got there.”

The Orb’s previous album, Moonbuilding 2703, took six years to move through the pipeline, as the group was originally commissioned by the English National Opera for the project, but budget cuts forced the work to be adapted into an album.

COW, by contrast, was produced quickly with lots of room for experimentation. Many ambient sounds used on the album came from group member Alex Paterson’s iPhone recordings of various stops around the world during a tour.

Speaking of a tour, The Orb has one coming to promote the new album. The run opens in Allston, Mass., Oct. 19 at Brighton Music Hall. There are a number of East Coast and Southern dates in the first week, including two gigs in North Carolina. Then the duo hits Seattle and Portland on the West Coast, before wrapping up in Denver Oct. 28.

After that, The Orb heads to the United Kingdom in November and December, with a run of shows from Nov. 24 to Dec. 10.

The group has said this U.S. schedule is only a first leg, so fans in big markets like California and Chicago may still get a chance to see The Orb in the near future.

The Orb’s live show often feature science-fiction-themed images like futuristic cityscapes and aliens, so the new tunes will surely be accompanied by interesting visual effects.

Here is the routing as it currently stands:

10/19 – Allston, Mass., Brighton Music Hall
10/20 – New York, N.Y., Webster Hall
10/21 – Carrboro, N.C., Cat’s Cradle
10/22 – Atlanta, Ga., Variety Playhouse
10/23 – Asheville, N.C., Mountain Theatre
10/26 – Seattle, Wash., Neumos
10/27 – Portland, Ore., Star Theater
10/28 – Denver, Colo., Cervantes’ Other Side

Tickets to select dates are available now. TheOrb.com has more on the band.