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On their new album Shapeshifter II: Outbreak, New York-bred band TAUK offer an unsettling
but ultimately exhilarating look at artificial intelligence and its potential to upend our world.
With its dynamic sense of tension and cinematic mastery of mood, TAUK’s all-instrumental
blend of progressive rock, hip-hop, and jazz proves to be the perfect backdrop for such
explorations, giving way to an album that’s both powerfully hypnotic and intensely thought-
provoking.
“We’re all very much interested in A.I., and this idea of machines getting out of the hands of the
people trying to control them,” notes TAUK guitarist Matt Jalbert, whose bandmates include
bassist Charlie Dolan, keyboardist Alric “A.C.” Carter, and drummer Isaac Teel. “This album
felt like a good setting to tell that kind of story, but in a way where we could have fun with it and
let the listener escape into a whole other world.”
Equally inspired by classic sci-fi like Blade Runner and more recent films like Ex Machina,
Shapeshifter II: Outbreak embeds that narrative into TAUK’s most sonically adventurous,
emotionally expansive work to date. A continuation of their early-2018 EP Shapeshifter I:
Construct, the new album picks up its predecessor’s narrative thread with “Prelude”: a
fantastically unsettling intro track whose frenetic keyboard work and chilling vocal samples set
the tone for what’s to come. “The idea is that in the EP you’re seeing the construction of this
being, and in the album you’re seeing it break out and become something that you can’t ignore
anymore,” Carter explains.
From there, TAUK charge forward with the driving rhythms of “Recreational Outrage” (a track
laced with the ominous throb of a robotic heartbeat), the futuristic soundscape and heady grooves
of “CMF 9000,” the gauzy reverie and glorious chaos of “Checkmate,” and the bright melodies
and soulful guitar sprawl of “Convoy.” One of the album’s most mesmerizing moments, “Let It
Ride” builds a brilliant tapestry from its luminous keyboard tones, kinetic guitar work, and
kaleidoscopic rhythms. And on “Upside Down,” TAUK close out Shapeshifter II: Outbreak with
a thrillingly epic burst of unfettered experimentalism.
Free-flowing yet elaborately composed, Shapeshifter II: Outbreak came to life in collaboration
with TAUK’s longtime cohort Robert Carranza—a Grammy Award-winning
producer/mixer/engineer also known for his work The Mars Volta, Ozomatli, Marilyn Manson,
and Taj Mahal. In a departure from their previous releases (including 2016’s Sir Nebula), the
band shunned the typical studio environment and holed up for weeks in a long-abandoned,
century-old home that Teel describes as “the Jumanji house meets Addams Family meets
Amityville Horror.” Located in their homeland of Long Island, the house turned out to be the
Management: Zach McNabb | ZALI Presents | (980) 218-9192 | zach@zalipresents.com
Management: Josh Nicotra | Lucky Man Mgmt | (310) 437-3929 | josh@luckymanmgmt.com
Booking: Nadia Prescher | Madison House Inc. | (303) 544-9900 | nadia@madison-house.com
Booking: Jordan Carriere | Madison House Inc. | (303) 544-9900 | jcarriere@madison-house.com
Press: Josh Nicotra | Lucky Man Mgmt | (310) 437-3929 | josh@luckymanmgmt.com
Touring Marketing: Cali Lacey | (706) 255-6895 | calilacey.pr@gmail.com

ideal spot for their makeshift studio, allowing for a creativity-enhancing seclusion. “Overall the
whole process was incredibly organic—there were no constrictions as far as time or space,
nothing ever felt forced,” says Dolan. “There was a greater feeling of possibility, and it ended up
being a really liberating experience for all of us.” Jalbert adds: “The location definitely added to
the vibe of everything we were going for. It was like we set up a laboratory in the middle of
nowhere and shut off the rest of the world, which really helped get us into a specific headspace.”
True to its thematic terrain, Shapeshifter II: Outbreak endlessly blurs the boundaries between
organic and electronic, with TAUK broadening their sonic palette to include a vast spectrum of
synth sounds and programmed effects (such as those exquisitely eerie vocal samples heard in
“Prelude”). And in sculpting the album’s intricate arrangements, TAUK called on such esteemed
musicians as The Naughty Horns, Ghost-Note’s Nate Werth (a percussionist who’s also played
with David Crosby, Q-Tip, and Snarky Puppy), and Juan Alderete (longtime bassist for Racer X
and The Mars Volta).
Throughout Shapeshifter II: Outbreak, TAUK reveal the potent chemistry they discovered in
childhood, when longtime friends Dolan, Jalbert, and Carter formed their first band in seventh
grade. After playing together in various projects, the trio brought Teel into the fold in 2012,
cementing the final lineup. Since then, TAUK have shared stages with acts like Umphrey’s
McGee, Widespread Panic, and Lettuce, appeared at festivals like Electric Forest and Bonnaroo,
and earned acclaim from major outlets like the Washington Post (who praised TAUK for
“creating a hard-charging, often melodic fusion that—thanks to a penchant for improv—offers
limitless possibilities”). As Teel points out, the band’s incessant touring over the years has
significantly strengthened their musical connection. “The four of us as individuals are all very
animated souls in our own right,” he says. “We each have our ideas and our perspectives, and
when it all comes together, it creates this collective statement that takes on a life of its own.”
In creating Shapeshifter II: Outbreak, TAUK made that statement more deliberate and impactful
than ever before. But while several upcoming videos and the vibrant artwork of illustrator Raul
Urias add a new dimension to the album’s concept, the band purposely maintained a certain
open-endedness in its execution. “People tell us all kinds of stories about what our songs mean to
them, and it’s always cool to see how wide the gamut of those stories is,” says Carter. “What the
song means to me might not be the same as what it means to you, but that’s one of the great
things about this whole experience. There’s room for everyone to develop whatever narrative
they want.”