After the stripped-back, experimental feel of 2021’s Distractions, Tindersticks’ fourteenth studio album, Soft Tissue, is a return to the velvety smooth, carefully curated style that the band have been refining for over thirty years.

Stuart Staples loomed especially large on Distractions, and while his syrupy baritone remains prominent, there’s a lot more time for the wide cast of supporting players on Soft Tissue. There’s a sense of dignified funk on ‘Don’t Walk, Run’ thanks to Earl Harvin’s clipped drums and Dan McKinna’s bass. And ‘Nancy’ has notes of haunted bossa nova via Dave Boulter’s organ and the slight echo on the production. Terry Edwards has a star guest turn on trumpet, moving from mournful to ecstatic by the end of ‘Always a Stranger.’ There’s also plenty of strings, brass, electronics and backing vocals across these eight tracks, assuring that despite the considered and polished end product, it’s still dynamic and varied.

But that isn’t to sat that Staples has lost any of his scene-stealing abilities. Consider the way he repeats the final word of “I have been rogue” during ‘The Secret of Breathing’, like he’s pondering its implications in real time. ‘Always a Stranger’ sees him at his most poetic, eschewing his usual direct style to channel his inner Byron: “Oh life, breathe through me / As this light falls, My love is in flames / And I’m always a stranger.” He cedes the limelight to a surprisingly funky choir on ‘Turned My Back’, eventually intertwining with their uplifting exclamations to great effect.

Soft Tissue‘s artwork is a tender embrace rendered in felt, made by Staples’ daughter Sidonie Osbourne. Like the music contained within there is clear love despite the simplicity. With the myriad instrumental choices it would be natural for it to feel a little overstuffed, but the ease and confidence with which the album flows demonstrates a close collaboration with all involved, regardless of whether they’ve been involved with Tindersticks from day one or it’s their first time on the books.

‘New World’ opens the album abruptly with striking brass (courtesy of Julian Spiegel), an immediate signal of a new beginning. But forty minutes later, as ‘Soon to be April’ closes proceedings on a smooth, sophisticated string fade-out, it’s apparent that Soft Tissue is yet another winning and comfortable fit into the vast, impressive Tindersticks oeuvre.