The Sigla Blog

Stuart A Staples
Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04 ****

Dublin. A rainy Saturday morning. An ideal time to put on new solo album from Stuart Staples, frontman of The Tindersticks, a band who surely take lessons in broody melancholy from Nick Cave. Also an ideal time to acknowledge that this is nothing like The Tindersticks and is an amazing collection of songs. I should also admit that I’m not, and never have been, a Tindersticks fan. They always cleaved far too close to Nick Cave and I always judged them (probably unfairly) to be a poor man’s Bad Seeds. With Lucky Dog Recordings, Staples distinctive baritone . whether you like it or not . still booms, but the complicated sub-Cave compositions are gone. There’s even a trombone.

Not knowing what to expect, the first track, ‘Somerset House’, is quite a surprise. Staples doesn’t feature and instead it sounds as like the McGarrigle sisters on backing vocals with Stuart notably absent throughout. It’s a simple, choral number, with a religious swoop to it, and without lyrics, we’re spared any potential piety. ‘Say Something Now’ blends jagged, percussive rhythms and introduces elements that are more apparent in ‘Friday Night’. The latter, a beautiful hushed number, is bizarrely, a slow bossanova ballad, a tempo that rears its head on several tracks. ‘Untitled’, a pithy instrumental number, catches the ear despite being short, lyricless and mainly pared-down piano. ‘Dark Days’ sees Staple step his vocal key up and it’s a soft, campfire song. But back to that trombone. It’s one of the dirtiest you’ll ever hear and segues in, like a sinister jazz moment, on ‘People Fall Down’, offsetting the breezy chorus.

In many ways, Staples has never sounded more like Nick Cave, but Boatman’s Call-era Nick Cave, and yet this is the kind of stuff Cave wouldn’t dare try. Staples’ vocal delivery is an acquired last but these songs deserve to be heard. They’re just that good and while they’re introspective AND upbeat, something about this album gives off a warm glow.

Me? I’ve been converted and based on this I’m off to re-evaluate my take on The Tindersticks.

Info: www.luckydog.nu