Tindersticks

Over ten years after their debut seven-inch emerged blinking to a shower of hosannas, Tindersticks have refused to answer the door to Mr Compromise. The major label deal came; the major label deal went. Ditto Britpop. Something referred to as "the new acoustic movement" prompted some discussion about the return of "proper songs." None of which seemed to impact much upon the world of Tindersticks - where the propriety (or otherwise) of songs has never been an issue. Along the way, they slimmed down and grew up. On 2001's Can Our Love... the ghost of Curtis Mayfield seemed to stalk the group's long dark soul of the night. Suddenly, Stuart Staples' forlorn streetlight serenades had acquired something dangerously close to a groove.