corto.alto – THIEF
Back in W14 we covered “WHODIS”, corto.alto’s collaboration with Mick Jenkins, a Dilla-adjacent hip-hop pivot that worked better than it had any right to. “THIEF” takes another turn entirely. Where “WHODIS” leaned hard into hip-hop, this new Ninja Tune single finds Liam Shortall in Jersey club territory: chopped classical strings, thumping breakbeats, and fat bass rhythms that he’s been road-testing live for the better part of a year before finally committing to tape.
That live development shows. “THIEF” has the loose authority of a track that’s been played into shape rather than constructed from scratch. Shortall says he’s always loved fat bass riffs and breakbeats and decided it was time to throw them together, and that description undersells how well the elements sit. The chopped strings give it a slightly unpredictable, improvisational quality that keeps it from being straight club music, and the low end is thick enough to carry the whole thing without the arrangement needing to do extra work. The title, he says, came from the feeling of time constantly slipping away, noticed or not.
What I find interesting about the corto.alto project is how each release lands in different territory without the complete thing feeling scattered. “WHODIS” was hip-hop, “APRIL” with anaiis sat somewhere else, and now “THIEF” is going full Jersey club. Shortall started with trombone, absorbed jazz, blues and ska in Glasgow, and has been widening the frame from that foundation outward. It’s holding together.
Alongside the single comes nws of his biggest UK and EU headline tour to date, plus a homecoming show at Barrowlands Ballroom in Glasgow in 2027, following the 2,000-capacity “Made In Glasgow” mini-festival he held there in 2025. Festival appearances this summer include We Out Here, WOMAD, Montreal Jazz Fest, and Jazz à la Villette.
Tour Dates Europe:
- TBC 2027 – Glasgow, UK – Barrowlands Ballroom (Homecoming Show)
(Full UK/EU headline tour dates TBC)
