Jane O’Hara’s Culture Notes
What happens when you take a girl from Scotland and her acoustic guitar, and uproot them to the same studio in Berlin where U2 recorded Achtung Baby? Judging by KT Tunstall’s third album, Tiger Suit, the answer is a collection of moody, blackish songs. Tunstall made her name with the folk-pop jollity of Eye to the Telescope (2004) and Drastic Fantastic (2007). Here, electronic undertones and rock overtones are stirred into the mix to create a more complex sound.
Tunstall herself calls it ‘an eclectic album’ – and you can see where she’s coming from. The first track, ‘Uummannaq Song’, has a tribal feel to match its Greenlandic name. And subsequent numbers, such as ‘Glamour Puss’, waft along on a bed of computerised babbles and buzzes. Among the most lo-fi tracks is the album’s first single, ‘Push That Knot Away’, which has an insistent country-and-western drive to it. And, from then on, we get everything from blues to indie to light disco. The sheer number of influences is a joy for music fans, but somehow they never overwhelm Tunstall’s basic function as a singer-songwriter.
Tiger Suit could be a little too diverse, were it not anchored by Tunstall’s unique voice. As before, she manages to blend the streetwise verve of a busker with the pitch-perfect delicacy of a soul singer. Aside from one or two clichéd lyrics, hers is a genuine talent – and this is the album that gives it fullest range.
KT Tunstall’s Tiger Suit is out on Monday
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