Leaving Songs

"Perfectly weighted, exquisitely fermented classics, melancholic and reflective, mature songs for the intelligent.”
- The Guardian

Like Tom Waits or Mark Lanegan, Stuart Staples has a ragged voice that sounds like it's been formed by years of cigarettes and alcohol; or, if you prefer, a voice like a black hole - dark and dense, trapping light and sucking in any who get too close.

Whether singing his lyrics in a whispery croon or barely coherent mumble, Staples captures the twilight atmosphere of a lonely, dilapidated pub, creating sorrowful music that has little punch in daylight but becomes cathartic for lost souls at night.

In '92, Staples formed Tindersticks, a group which won over British critics with their cracking self-titled debut, and went on to release four critically acclaimed albums, while never really breaking into the commercial market. In '05 then, Staples released the eagerly received 'Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04', his first solo album and not a far cry from his work with Tindersticks.

His new album 'Leaving Songs' though, is a true departure for Staples - the tempo, the hornlines, the chorus of female backing vocals, these are "traditional” songs in a way - but there's no hiding that voice. His lyrics are rooted in the terrain of love, loss, regret, passage, dissolution and absence, with the relaxed ebb and flow of the music gently lapping against them.

The world Staples addresses in his songs is almost never settled. Uncertainty lurks in every line, kept company by disaster, despair and occasional malevolence. That rings true in 'Leaving Songs', an album any Tindersticks fan simply must hear. As a solo record it's no declaration of independence, but Staples makes this classy piece of work ring with sadness and sophistication.

"By sticking to what he does best, Staples makes this work ring with sadness and sophistication."
- The Observer