New-look Tindersticks are all set for ignition
Tomorrow night Tindersticks play Dublin for the first time in eons. With a 10-piece touring band in tow, including their long-serving string section, it promises to be one of the shows of the year, not least because the venue this time around is Vicar St, whose crystal-clear acoustics and all-round sense of intimacy could not be better suited to the band's subtle, lugubrious sound.
To be able to distinguish each violin and guitar part in the mix improves one's appreciation of the music immeasurably, as anyone who heard them struggle with the sound mix inside the tent at the Electric Picnic earlier this year would appreciate.
Their second coming should be much more rewarding. The Nottingham-formed group have played many memorable gigs in the Olympia over the years, but this is their first in the Liberties.
Currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, Vicar St has hosted some remarkable shows in its first decade from Dylan to Neil Young's three-night stand, and from Smog to the Go-Betweens' last Irish show.
And now finally we get to see Stuart Staples and Co take the stage there.
Of course, the current incarnation of Tindersticks is a different beast to before with the departure of three founder members two years ago, including the talismanic multi-instrumentalist Dickon Hinchliffe, who now turns his hand to composing film soundtracks full-time.
The Hungry Saw, released earlier this year, was the first Tindersticks album in five years, and the first to feature a slimmed-down line-up of Staples, Neil Fraser and Dave Boulter. Despite the loss of personnel, it's a fine album, with songs like 'Boobar Come Back To Me' and 'All The Love', the latter with its hint of unspeakable violence blind-siding the listener at the end, standing in comparison with their best work.
How did Stuart find working with a different set-up for the first time?
"The biggest difference I felt was that it wasn't really to do with the definite personalities that were there," he says. "We recorded the album very quickly, in eight days. Halfway through it, I realised that I was with a group of people who were all pushing at something -- and everybody was engaged and looking for their own thing.
"There was a really great atmosphere. I probably hadn't been in that situation since we made our second Tindersticks album, 11 years before."
The Hungry Saw was recorded in Staples' own recording studio in his adopted home near the French town of Limoges, where he lives with his wife Suzanne and their family.
"I moved to France with a view to building a studio," he explains. "We started writing the songs here. And we felt that this was the place we belonged. It ended up being a frantic few months to get all the building finished in time. It was a bit crazy. But on the first day of recording, everything got plugged in. By the time we'd started playing music, we already felt like we'd achieved something."
But why did Stuart leave England to settle in Mr Sarkozy's green and pleasant land?
"I just wanted a new space," he answers. "I'd been living in London for nearly 20 years. I was growing out of my studio; my wife was growing out of hers -- she's a painter. For a long time, we'd felt hemmed-in in London.
"Since I moved here, I've spent so much time travelling. It's a great place to come back to. When I used to go home to London, my heart used to sink."
Tindersticks have always had a cult following in continental Europe and their sound has often been informed by the Gallic torch songs of the likes of Serge Gainsbourg and Charles Aznavour.
The French connection is also there in their numerous collaborations with arthouse film director Claire Denis, beginning with her gritty 1996 film Nenette Et Boni, for which they penned the score (there's a memorable scene where a couple -- the woman played by Carla Bruni's half-sister, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi -- slow-dance to the majestic 'Tiny Tears', played all the way through).
Now, Tindersticks have composed the soundtrack for Denis' next two movies, the first of which, 35 Rhums (35 Shots of Rum), premiered at the Venice Film Festival this year.
In the time between 2003's Waiting For The Moon to The Hungry Saw, Staples has released two solo albums, Lucky Dog Recordings 03/04 (2004) and Leaving Songs (2006). While the first was recorded very much in a piecemeal fashion, gathering together various musical ideas over time, Leaving Songs, which was recorded in Nashville, was more of a concept album, with a unifying theme.
"I was looking for something very specific," says Staples. "It was the first time I had ever written a bunch of acoustic guitar songs that were very pointed -- about leaving people, I suppose. I would never want to inflict something that dogmatic on the band. Working with the band idealistically has been about the freedom for people within the group to ignite something and take it somewhere else, rather than feel pinned down."
Let's hope Tindersticks ignite in Vicar St tomorrow night ...
nkelly@independent.ie
- Nick Kelly
