Stuart A Staples’ new solo album Arrythmia is one of the finest of 2018 thus far. It’s four tracks long, the final of which is half hour epic, yet it all holds together perfectly. Opener ‘A New Real’ takes the Tindersticks’ songwriter’s songwriting nous and strips it back to a lo-fi, dub-inspired rattle before a an unexpectedly lush chorus rushes in. This rich canopy of moves extends through the record, from the heady and languid ‘Memories Of Love’ and jazz-flecked ‘Step Into The City’ to that final track. ‘Music For A Year In Small Paintings’ is quite a remarkable piece of music, a fusing together of Staples’ prowess in long-term composition acquired during his work on film soundtracks and Tindersticks’ eloquent digressions on life and love. There’s woodwind and strings and gently meandering basslines, the sense of life slowly floating by like a river depleted by a hot spell and the resignation that you can do nothing about it. It is, simply, rather lovely.
This is a record that’ll appeal to the devoted fans of the day job, sure, but also deserves to draw perhaps unexpected listeners his way. Stuart A Staples wrote his own Baker’s Dozen of albums that inspired Arrythmia and got in touch to say, "Hello Quietus, thanks for inviting me to take part in your Baker’s Dozen section. I Spent a lot of time on trains recently so gave me chance to have a think about it and have tried to choose albums that relate to Arrhythmia, the solo album I have just made." Arrythmia is out now, click the image of Stuart below to begin reading through his selections.
