Tindersticks celebrate 'The Waiting Room' release

Two decades into their musical voyage Tindersticks, established masters of restraint and poetic human emotion, are a band now confidently creating the best songs of their career. January 22nd 2016 saw the highly anticipated release of their latest album, 'The Waiting Room’, to critical acclaim and commercial success. ‘The Waiting Room’ is a milestone not just numerically (their 10th), but musically and creatively. Their first studio album since 2012 is the most ambitious, diverse and elaborate record you’ll have heard from Tindersticks in recent years. It is universally regarded as one of the key albums in the discography of the band and charted in 7 countries. In Belgium the album entered the charts at n 13!

'The Waiting Room' is not only a music abum but also collaborative film project with the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and La Blogotheque where every song on the album is accompanied by a short film by its own director. On the eve of their upcoming extensive European tour the band has shared another visual companion piece. This unreleased, never before seen film for “How He Entrered” however acts as a standalone movie and is not part of the film project. It was directed by Amaury Voslion and Richard Dumas (who also shot the album cover) and features the enigmatic donkey head from the album artwork. It was premiered in partnership with Lomography today, you can watch it here.

Stuart A.Staples: "I bought the donkey head a few years ago from a great theatrical antiques shop in Strasbourg – he is apparently 100 years old. Sometimes I wear him around the house, he has become a kind of alter-ego. We had a photo session for the album arranged at Langar Hall, Nottingham, with Richard Dumas. I thought I would take the head along, see what happens. We have known each other a long time, there is a lot of trust between us. When Richard was introduced to donkey man he put down his champagne and rushed to get his camera – the next day was a lot of fun and the session spawned the great album cover and the booklet of the donkey man and his wife that goes with it. The idea of the film – a day in the life – was born that day. Myself and Suzanne started to make a storyboard and discuss with Richard. Though over the course of the filming, the emotion of the story and connection with character developed between us."

Richard Dumas: "When we finished the making of the donkey cover, Stuart had the feeling we had given birth to a real character and he wanted me to direct a short film showing the donkey's daily life. That was the beginning. Amaury joined and we had the perfect team, with Stuart and Suzanne his wife, writing a sort of screenplay. We returned to the scene of the crime and shot like a film, not like a music video. The image is in no way an illustration of the lyrics. All the feelings come from the meeting of the music and the image, almost by accident."

Watch Tindersticks’

• “Were We Once Lovers?”
• “Hey Lucinda” featuring Lhasa De Sela
• “We are Dreamers!” featuring Jehnny Beth

Tindersticks live

• Mar 20, 2016 - Bourla Schouwburg, Antwerp
• Mar 21, 2016 - Bourla Schouwburg, Antwerp
• Mar 22, 2016 - Het Depot, Leuven