Tindersticks: November all year round

The 90s, as music historiography would have us believe in retrospect, were a decade of bright colors and tones, exuberance and hedonism, more major than minor, more upbeat than downtempo. That’s not entirely wrong, but it’s not entirely true either: Because in addition to Scooter, Dr. Alban, Oasis and Fanta 4, there was also the Tindersticks from Nottingham, England, who didn’t become chart-toppers, but at least they became critics’ favorites. Looking back, it seems that the more exuberant the stupidity of the time and the party frenzy that surrounded them, the more melancholy their songs became.

These were characterized by a sound that was already anachronistic at the time, which sounded more like the end of history than a desire for freedom, and was made up of slow beats, dark organ sounds and sad guitar melodies. Added to this was the strangely distant voice of frontman Stuart A. Staples, who was not suitable as a singer in the classic sense: standing in the tradition of role models such as Nick Cave or Scott Walker, he instead crooned his way through his songs as a sad, mumbled poet – completely as if he were only singing about November from July to June. This was heard for the first time on the self-titled debut album from 1993. Even back then, evil tongues accused the band of snobbery. One can assume that it confirmed the quintet in its path.

The years have passed since then. The world is different than it was back then, but the Tindersticks are still the same. This is also underlined by the new album “Soft Tissue”, which was recently released. Judging by the eight songs on it, the band around frontman Stuart A. Staples hasn’t gotten any happier since their early days.

At least that’s what the opener “New World” suggests: “Thundering and lightning and the ground began to move/ My days were just breaking/ Shaking and collapsing, the debris began to moan/ Was this all of my own making?” sings Staples – caught somewhere between reality and madness. He also offers an attempt at interpretation: “Maybe it’s the new world.”

Yes, the new world offers all kinds of reasons for grief and sorrow. This is only partly welcome, but at least it has provided the creative basis for Tindersticks for over 30 years. Precisely because they, as old-fashioned English dandies, don’t want to fit into this new world, sadness is inscribed in their music like water in the sea.

Fortunately, Staples also has friends on his side in the form of his bandmates. The quintet underlines that it is much more than just a backing band for their charismatic frontman: it is only through his input that Staples’ high-class singer/songwriter pieces, together with their sophisticated but always reduced sound worlds, grow into extraordinary sound art. Songs like “Nancy” or “Always A Stranger” are among the best that the band has recorded in their back catalog, which is worth listening to and now includes 14 albums.

Tindersticks: »Soft Tissue« (City Slang)