By KT Tunstall
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Tiger Suit was recorded in Berlin's Hansa Studios, where several legendary albums, including David Bowie's Heroes, U2's Achtung Baby, and Iggy Pop's Lust for Life, were made. "There's a lovely self-sufficiency in Berlin, where people are just doing whatever they want to," Tunstall says. "It really informed everything. There was an angular nature to what we were playing and a fierceness that I felt was very appropriate for what I'd written."
The Berlin odyssey set the scene for Tunstall's awakening to the wonderful world of synthesizers. "I was very scared of them because I felt that they would be an albatross around the music," she says. But that was before IAMX, aka former Sneaker Pimp Chris Corner, supplied her with a couple of "transporting" arrangements. "Then every synth came out of the box and I entered a world that I am completely smitten with now." Pride of place in Tunstall's armory went to the Yamaha CS-80 -- Vangelis' weapon of choice on the Blade Runner soundtrack -- which she describes as "a huge beast, like playing a couch."
Without sacrificing any of her personal storytelling touch, the sonic landscape of Tiger Suit shifts from the uninhibited tribal yelp of "Uummannaq Song," inspired by her Greenland foray, to the analog drone-meets-oriental chime and flutter of "Lost," by way of "Push That Knot Away," which she calls a signature track on the album. "It's about confronting fear rather than running away." Then there's the rollicking first single, "Fade Like A Shadow," which Tunstall explains is about a person who haunted her for many months. "The person is still very much alive, but my interactions with them led to these weird, almost visitation-like feelings that I found difficult to shake off."
Elements of all the influences that make up Tiger Suit come together on "(Still A) Weirdo." A beautiful acoustic guitar line floats through organic and electronic rhythm sounds, while the lyrics are some of Tunstall's most personal. "It's one of those rare moments where you can see yourself objectively and look into your own emotional machinery and realize what you are," Tunstall says. The journey continues through the extra-terrestrial blues of "Golden Frames" (featuring the formidable Seasick Steve), and the glam strut of the anecdotal "Madame Trudeaux," to the up-tempo swagger and hum of "Glamour Puss."
"Making the album felt a bit like an archaeological dig," Tunstall says. "I had to dig deep to uncover what most turns me on. The best way I can describe it is that I discovered the indigenous part of myself by going back to campfire dance music just as much as club dance music. When I grind my boot heel into the floor, it's connected to when I went clubbing in Berlin. Losing yourself in the middle of nowhere around a fire is no different to losing yourself surrounded by hundreds of people on a dancefloor." Read more
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