"Zvuk kapely, ktorá znovuobjavila samu seba..." - BBC
Po 18 rokoch stále úspešní na bojisku... Po čiastočne zrevidovanej zostave Tindersticks preťali pred 2 rokmi päťročnú nahrávaciu pauzu albumom Hungry Saw, teraz (opäť s pár modifikáciami v line-upe) potvrdili svoj návrat ďalším, v poradí už ôsmym štúdiovým albumom, ktorý je ešte príjemnejším prekvapením ako jeho skvelý predchodca. Zatiaľ čo na Hungry Saw nám Stuart Staples a jeho kompánia ponúkli len pár zriedkavých zábleskov pozitivity, Falling Down a Mountain nás niekoľkými snáď najviac pozdvihujúcimi a optimistickými (čo sú ovšem u Tindersticks relatívne pojmy) skladbami v histórii kapely.
The six-and-a-half minute title track is immediately striking, with its simmering, asymmetrical, jazzy groove buoying a hypnotically simple vocal riff and some uninhibited soloing from trumpeter Terry Edwards. "Harmony Around My Table" is a bouncy soul-pop number that might hardly be recognizable as Tindersticks if not for Staples' inimitable quavering baritone (as always, an acquired taste, like fine wine), while the low-key lovers' duet "Peanuts" sports a charmingly simple, slightly silly lyric, and the twinkling ballad "Keep You Beautiful," though a typically mellow affair, is uncharacteristically, almost achingly sweet. Elsewhere, the album takes on a vaguely Western tinge (again echoing the dusty cover landscape), with the galloping, lustful "She Rode Me Down," Edwards' lonesome flügelhorn on the Morricone-esque instrumental "Hubbard Hills," and the gritty, downright driving "Black Smoke." Eventually -- this being Tindersticks, after all -- the darkness does creep in: the deceptively buoyant "No Place So Alone" seethes with the jealousy of a jilted lover, and by the penultimate "Factory Girls," we find Staples brooding alone, doused in melancholy, feebly asserting that "it's the wine that makes me sad, not the love I never had." It's a typically mournful, typically lovely Tindersticks moment, made all the more exquisite here in contrast to the increased stylistic range that came before it. Sometimes, it just takes a slight change in scenery to help you appreciate what you've always had.
Tracklist:
1. Falling Down A Mountain
2. Keep You Beautiful
3. Harmony Around My Table
4. Peanuts
5. She Rode Me Down
6. Hubbards Hills
7. Black Smoke
8. No Place So Alone
9. Factory Girls
10. Piano Music
Hrajú:
Stuart Staples (spev / gitara)
David Boulter (klávesy)
Neil Fraser (gitara)
Dan McKinna (basgitara)
Earl Harvin (bicie / spev)
Andy Nice (violončelo)
David Kitt (gitara / spev)
Jo Fraser (flauta)
Mary Margaret O’Hara (spev - duet na ‘Peanuts’)
Terry Edwards (trúbka)
(wegart)