Stuart Staples possesses a voice every bit as ravaged as those of Tom Waits or Mark Lanegan, its texture apparently eroded by decades of tobacco and liquor. Delivering lines either in a hushed croon or a slurred murmur, he evokes the dim interior of an isolated, rundown tavern, fashioning melancholy songs that register faintly by day yet offer genuine release to solitary listeners once night falls. In Nottingham, England, during 1992 he assembled Tindersticks—initially a three-piece known as Asphalt Ribbons—drawing in fellow Asphalt Ribbons alumni David Boulter on keyboards and Dickon Hinchcliffe on violins, together with Neil Fraser on guitar, Mark Colwill on bass, and Al Macaulay. Their self-titled debut album arrived in 1993 and immediately earned glowing notices from the British press, including Melody Maker’s designation as Album of the Year. Frequently likened to Waits, Nick Cave, and Leonard Cohen, Staples expanded the group’s reach with each successive release through his sexually charged yet bleak narratives of romantic entanglement. Word-of-mouth enthusiasm and glowing notices allowed the band to cultivate a devoted American audience throughout the 1990s despite receiving no commercial radio exposure. Although later records such as 1997’s Curtains and 1999’s Simple Pleasure failed to match the widespread praise accorded their predecessors, Staples continued to be viewed as one of England’s most accomplished songwriters. On Beggars Banquet he issued the solo collection Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04 in 2005, then followed it with Leaving Songs on the same label in 2006.
