Tindersticks reel in praise for their cinematic compositions

FOR 20 years Tindersticks have been one of this country’s most consistently brilliant bands. Their brooding and atmospheric music brings to mind the string-swept dramatics of legends like Scott Walker and Lee Hazlewood, while vocalist Stuart Staple’s baleful baritone always hinted at a regretful morning-after, full of too much red wine and cigarettes.

Unsurprisingly, the filmic qualities of the band’s records has been picked up by numerous directors and this month Tindersticks perform a special show at the Philharmonic Hall where they will present a selection of music composed in collaboration with French film maker Claire Denis.

Tindersticks have scored six of Denis’s 10 features, with the cinematic scope of the Nottingham group’s blend of jazz, lounge, soul and rock working perfectly with the widescreen vision of the typically French art-house feel of films like Nénette et Boni, 35 Shots of Rum and Denis’s most recent picture, White Material.

This series of shows is the culmination of a project which has seen Tindersticks combine live music and film performances at film festivals and events in Instanbul, London, Paris, Los Angeles, Lisbon, Umea, Brussels and Geneva.

Denis had scoured through the archives to assemble all manner of clips spanning her partnership with the band, with the press release for the event even warning that many of the extracts are “not for the faint of heart.” The second half of the show will feature a special set of selected Tindersticks songs.