A prolific, elegant group with 1,000 permanent projects, the Tindersticks have just released a best of, “Past imperfect”, a review of 30 years of a winding career, in several stages. A best of not as an accomplishment, but rather as recognition of the work done, and of what still remains to be explored.
Tindersticks perpetually travel between darkness and light. So to sum up 30 intense years, the simplest way of speaking was to choose 20 tracks and present them chronologically. Common thread: the voice of Stuart Staples, and an immense musical requirement.
The adventure therefore began in 1992 in Nottingham. Settled for a long time now in Creuse, Stuart Staples remembers: “When we released our first album, it took us all by surprise… We lived maybe five years on this feeling that anything was possible, before gradually becoming more aware“.
“I think we fought to get back to that feeling of freedom, and we’ve done that for the last ten years.”
Stuart Staples, Tindersticks
Along the way, some members have changed, the intention has remained the same: to write, to dig, to imagine timeless music. Stuart Staples, always: “You always think about the future. The very idea of nostalgia is fraught with danger, so I think pausing to look back at what you’ve accomplished can be very helpful. I hope it can nourish us rather than destroy us”.
The story of the Tindersticks is also that of a companionship, with the director Claire Denis. Since meeting at the Bataclan in 1996, they have written the music for all his films, including With love and determinationthe next, for which they reveal here the unpublished Both Sides Of The Blade. “When you put someone like Claire in the middle of the process, everything becomes non-linear, and a bit more unpredictable”greets the founder of the group today.
“What Claire Denis’ ideas demand is a permanent challenge… I think that was very important in the very existence of the group, 30 years later.”
Stuart Staples, Tindersticks
Rarely has a best-of seemed so forward-looking. With productive Tindersticks, the past is just a step towards new territories to be cleared.
Tindersticks, Past Imperfect, The Best Of Tindersticks 1992-2021 (City Slang). Album available.