When everything went quiet in the Tindersticks camp a few years ago, Stuart Staples released a couple of solo albums, Dickon Hinchliffe started doing soundtracks and I was worried that the group was no more. A couple of Tindersticks compilations were released (a greatest hits and a BBC sessions double CD) but these felt like posthumous releases, nails in a coffin I was hoping did not exist. However, despite losing half its members, the band continues and has returned with a wonderful album that sounds like it could have been by the full line up in their prime.
Beggars Banquet (EU)/Constellation (NA)
Hinchliffe’s departure is felt most keenly on The Hungry Saw. His violin playing and occasional vocals were the perfect foil for Neil Fraser’s guitar work and Staples’ baritone voice. The sweeping orchestral arrangements, that made Curtains and the two self-titled albums the masterpieces that they were, are largely gone. The string embellishment on “The Other Side of the World” being the exception rather than the rule. What has happened now is that the guitar has come more to the fore to replace the violin, most notably the fantastic tremolo effected guitar on "E-Type," one of the best parts of the album. The utilisation of a brass section is thankfully still a feature (and now supplemented by some woodwind) so the feeling the band now captures is the gritty and bitter love songs of the earlier albums mixed with the focus on country music from Staples’ solo albums.
The Hungry Saw does not swing as strongly as the classic Tindersticks albums but it is stronger overall compared to Waiting for the Moon or Can Our Love..., perhaps a massive shift in personnel was needed to get the song writing muscles back into shape. From the opening piano intro up until the end of the album, each song captures the heart and soul completely. Staples’ lyrics are as wonderful as usual, mixing the humdrum with the most potent emotions to create the kind of songs that are something much more than simple melodies and rhymes.” Yesterday’s Tomorrows” and the title track stand slightly above the other songs as being particularly great but really it is impossible to pick out favourites from such a stellar choice.
That a band can continue after so many years and such a dramatic loss of members as has happened with Tindersticks and still come out with an album as polished and good as The Hungry Saw is no small feat. As a long time fan of the band, I am of course delighted to see them back in any form and with any luck they will continue long into the future.
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