Stuart A. Staples
Arrhythmia

Release Date: 2018 | Tracklist

The hardest bias to control when confronting a new release from an artist you respect deeply and crave new work from is that of personal expectations, and of personal preference; the challenge is to review what's in front of you, not what you expected (or wanted) to receive. Tindersticks frontman Stuart Staples is one such figure for me, a man possessed of one of the most distinctive vocal styles out there, who’s also developed an enveloping lyrical world full of dark yet romantic thoughts. I cannot lie, I knew exactly what I wanted from this second solo album to the extent I’d half imagined the music in my head well before actually pressing play; something not dissimilar to his first solo effort ‘Leaving Songs’, which was a more stripped back and sparse version of his work with the Tindersticks. If that album had been ever so slightly more focused, a touch braver in the execution, then we could well have been dealing with a minor classic. A refinement, that’s what I was hoping for, a refinement of that album’s approach.

Well, of course, you have to ask if an artist such as Staples is releasing solo material to achieve that sort of a goal？ Surely he’s attempting to perfect his song writing vision with his main gig, the Tindersticks, so it’s far more likely he’s releasing solo material to scratch a very different sort of itch. So it proves, this album is made up of two different experiments; the first half an exercise in taking the Tindersticks style and pushing it into even more patient and ambient territories, while the second half is an all-instrumental medley of pieces written to accompany his wife's art series ‘Skies’. In effect, this was the opposite of what I expected or, if I’m honest, was hoping for. That there’s the challenge.

Tackling the first half of the project, the three lengthy songs (and they are loosely speaking still ‘songs’) is the easier part of the equation. As the title of the album hints these tracks are obsessed with rhythm, especially of the irregular kind. ‘A New Real’ enters half naked, all bare beats and echoing vocals, but wait, just when you’re falling into a sort of vague stupor the music springs into life at the 3:19 mark. It’s a genuinely beautiful moment, with Staples claiming you’ve just stumbled into ‘a new real’, and if feels like that. ‘Memories of Love’ is more typical of recent Tindersticks output only it chooses to luxuriate in its own ambience to a deeper degree than ever before; yes, it’s gorgeous. Finally closing out the trio you have the most traditional ‘song’ of the set in the shape of 'Step Into the Grey', the aggressively delivered lyric ‘I need you with your teeth bared’ bringing back memories of ‘Milky Teeth’ from way back on the Tindersticks debut. However…just when you think Staples has delivered something predictable he pulls the rug from under you once more, as the track ends with a bizarre but hugely enjoyable chamber jazz rhythmic piece.

Ok, this is where you look up at that 3 rating and wonder ‘what’s up？’; you’re correct, those opening three tracks do account for a score somewhere north of 4 out of 5. How could the second half be so much worse？ Well, it’s not that it’s bad per se, it’s just music that provides a function I neither enjoy nor need. Perhaps I’ve failed with that bias, but believe me, I’ve tried to take this track on its own merits. I’ve settled down and listened to its 30 minutes of slowly rising and falling music without distraction on four separate occasions, and while it never offends and time moves pleasantly forward - beyond that I can’t detect anything life enhancing. This isn't even ambient music that also works well for the purpose of relaxation, it doesn't have that quality to it as much as I've looked for it here. No, the worst thing, the thing I've had to admit to myself, is this music actually does its job; this would be great music to work to, to paint to, to walk around a gallery and watch slowly evolving video artworks to. I can tell myself that but the disappointment is still there, and that rating remains.

So Doofus Wainwright HAS failed.

{signing off, 2018......}

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