''The Waiting Room'' is the eleventh studio album by the English band
Tindersticks
Tindersticks are an English alternative rock band formed in Nottingham in 1991. They released six albums before singer Stuart A. Staples embarked on a solo career. The band reunited briefly in 2006 and more permanently the following year. The ...
, released in 2016 on the
City Slang
City Slang is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany.
History
The independent music label City Slang was founded in 1990 as a European outpost for American indie rock. Thirty years later, the imprint represents a diverse roster o ...
label. Some editions of the album came packaged with a
short film
A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
that had been commissioned for each song by various directors.
Music
Opening track "Follow Me" was the final song recorded for the album. When the band needed a piece of music to act as an introduction, Stuart Staples and
musical arranger
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...
Julian Siegel
Julian H. Siegel (born 1966) is a British jazz saxophone and clarinet player, and a composer and arranger, described by ''MOJO Magazine'' as "One of the UK's most creative saxophonists".
Siegel has toured and recorded with Greg Cohen and Joey Ba ...
used the melody from
Bronisław Kaper
Bronisław Kaper (; February 5, 1902 – April 26, 1983) was a Polish film composer who scored films and musical theater in Germany, France, and the USA. The American immigration authorities misspelled his name as Bronislau Kaper. He was also v ...
s soundtrack to the 1962 film ''
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the ''Bounty'' occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship, , from their captain, Lieutenant (navy), Lieutenant William Bli ...
'', which Staples had found himself humming as he walked down the street.
"We Are Dreamers!" features vocals by Jehnny Beth of
Savages, who recorded her part in ten minutes.
Reception
At
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, ''The Waiting Room'' received an average score of 82, based on 20 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Marc Burrows of ''
Drowned in Sound'' called it "a rich, warm, comfort blanket of a record, marbled with veins of darkness and light",
while
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
reviewer Thom Jurek called it a "mixed bag".
Accolades
Track listing
All songs written by
Stuart A. Staples
Stuart Ashton Staples (born 14 November 1965) is an English musician best known as the lead singer of indie band Tindersticks, in which he also plays guitar. Staples is noted for his crooning vocal style and a bass, nasal voice.
Biography
Prior ...
, except where noted.
#"Follow Me" (
Bronislau Kaper) – 2:45
#"Second Chance Man" – 3:56
#"Were We Once Lovers?" – 4:49
#"Help Yourself" – 5:38
#"Hey Lucinda" (featuring
Lhasa de Sela
Lhasa de Sela (September 27, 1972 – January 1, 2010), also known by the mononym Lhasa, was an American-Canadian singer-songwriter who was raised in Mexico and the United States and divided her adult life between Canada and France. Her first a ...
) – 5:16
#"This Fear of Emptiness" (David Boulter) – 3:59
#"How He Entered" (Dan McKinna, Staples) – 4:46
#"The Waiting Room" – 4:54
#"Planting Holes" (Boulter) – 2:03
#"We Are Dreamers!" – 5:21
#"Like Only Lovers Can" (Boulter, Staples) – 4:33
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waiting Room (Tindersticks album), The
2016 albums
City Slang albums
Tindersticks albums