Almost twenty years on from their groundbreaking debut, Tindersticks’ ninth studio album finds them once again exploring the outer sonic possibilities of the pop song, with their by now familiar spacey ambient textures, off-kilter melodies and idiosyncratic approach to song structure. With the exception of ‘Chocolate’, the spoken word opener – a 10 minute tender epic, which band member David Boulter narrates rather than sings over a lovely loping backdrop – the bulk of the album is underpinned by Stuart Staples’ haunting baritone. Though not an easy listen (you won’t find this on daytime radio) there is much to admire here, from the gorgeous descending string arrangement and buzz-saw guitar interplay on ‘Show Me Everything’ to the eerily moving and deeply unsettling ‘A Night So Still’, which finds Staples’ vocals hitting new heights of intensity.
It’s not all gloom and despair however: the dramatic pacing on ‘This Fire Of Autumn’ is almost on a par with Talk Talk’s ‘It’s My Life’ in its race to the finish, while ‘Frozen’ is similarly fraught with insistent rhythms and hurried textures.
Elsewhere, a gently vamped Air-like analogue keyboard, a sprinkling of glockenspiel and gorgeous harmonies on ‘Come Inside’ make it a definite highlight, while the Middle Eastern-flavoured ‘Medicine’ is more classic grey-sky Tindertsicks fare. ‘Slippin’ Shoes’ is the nearest thing to a conventionally constructed pop song, while the instrumental closer ‘Goodbye Joe’ successfully blends a compelling Tubular Bells-influenced melody with ambient dance rhythms, rounding off a challenging but ultimately rewarding collection.