THE SOMETHING RAIN

LUCKY DOG/CITY SLANG, 2012 The second version of Tindersticks push the boundaries, with drum machines and an experimental approach With the previous two albums the approach was very much like a live band in a studio, knocking ideas around, trying to find moments for these songs to happen, growing into an album. But I have to say I felt like Falling Down A Mountain was kind of a missed opportunity – there are so many things to get right and at the end you’re left with what you’re left with. I took a step back and went back to the process of my first solo album, which was built from small ideas in the studio, built by experimenting, with the songs emerging from these experiments. The Something Rain very much had that approach – it was very much a studio record, and the studio that was built for The Hungry Saw

actually started to be properly explored as a thing itself, with its own identity. The Something Rain

was made around the same time as the White Material soundtrack [ for Claire Denis’s 2009 film] and I think both of those records reflect what this studio actually sounds like, and the choices and decisions we made, the choices of equipment. With The Something Rain it really delivered. By the time it left the studio we knew it was totally strong and kind of elevated from the place where we were with Falling Down A Mountain. There are drum machines on it, new sounds. It’s always been there, maybe not as apparently, our aversion to going over ground that we’ve been over before. But it wasn’t just the drum machine that was interesting – what was really interesting was Earl’s relationship with the drum machine and how he played with it. I think that created something in itself, texturally. It has a certain kind of power that a drum machine has, but within it was nuance, and that made it exciting to me. I only have good feelings about this album.

“I’m used to sitting in my studio considering everything for quite a long time!” STUART STAPLES