Tindersticks Soft Tissue
Tindersticks's Soft Tissue confronts nostalgia and renewal with a hushed, cinematic poise that critics say rewards patient listening. Across five professional reviews the record earned a 57/100 consensus score, a sign that reviewers were divided even as many praised its warm, live-band intimacy and soul-tinged details. Songs frequently singled out include “New World”, “Always a Stranger”, “Turned My Back” and “Falling, the Light” as the collection's clearest moments.
The critical consensus emphasizes restraint and atmosphere. Reviewers consistently note stripped-down arrangements, breath and silence used as texture, and a sensual funk undercurrent that gives tracks like “New World” and “Turned My Back” an earthy oomph. Praise centers on the album's cinematic melancholy, rainy-city imagery and detailed arrangements: Alexis's voice tucked into the mix, double bass hums, and Memphis-tinged brass create standout passages that critics call the best songs on Soft Tissue.
At the same time, several critics point to repetition and a mid-album drift that blunts momentum, which helps explain the mixed reception across professional reviews. While some reviewers hail the record as one of Tindersticks' most intimate, others find its devotion to mood over surprise leaves portions feeling inert. Ultimately Soft Tissue is portrayed as a quietly beautiful, occasionally uneven entry in the band's late-career catalog—one whose high points like “New World” and “Always a Stranger” make it worth seeking out for attentive listeners.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Always a Stranger - closing stretch / chorus
1 mention
"The closing stretch almost unravels entirely."— Sputnikmusic
New World
4 mentions
""New World" is the kind of slow burn Charles Bradley or Lee Fields would make serious hay with"— AllMusic
Turned My Back
4 mentions
""Turned My Back" comes across like an X-Ray of the Daptone sound with a surprisingly uplifting chorus"— AllMusic
The closing stretch almost unravels entirely.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
New World
Don't Walk, Run
Nancy
Falling, the Light
Always a Stranger
The Secret of Breathing
Turned My Back
Soon to Be April
New World - Edit
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 6 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
No review text was provided to identify the best songs on Soft Tissue by Tindersticks, or to craft a reviewer-style appraisal mentioning tracks like “New World” or “Don't Walk, Run”.
Key Points
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No best song could be identified because the review text is missing.
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No assessment of the album's strengths could be made without the review content.
Critic's Take
In his characteristically observant tone the reviewer argues that Tindersticks's Soft Tissue finds power in restraint, spotlighting songs like “Nancy” and “Always a Stranger” as standout moments. He describes the record as one of their most stripped-down, live-sounding efforts while still bursting with drama and emotion, which is why tracks such as “New World” and “Turned My Back” land so memorably. The praise is specific and earned: the soul underpinnings give the best tracks a needed oomph, making the best songs on Soft Tissue both immediate and deeply felt.
Key Points
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The best song is best because it exemplifies the band's M.O., marrying a percolating groove with dramatic accents.
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The album's core strengths are its stripped-down, live-sounding arrangements and soulful underpinnings that deliver emotional drama.
Themes
mu
Critic's Take
Tindersticks sound chastened and quietly restored on Soft Tissue, where the best songs - “New World” and “Falling, the Light” - distill the band’s late-career strengths. Alexis writes in that measured, slightly mournful register that made the early records feel like private broadcasts, noting the Memphis-tinged brass of “New World” and the impossibly pretty guitar of “Falling, the Light” as the album’s clearest rewards. The opener’s drum-machine melancholy and the centrepiece’s pastoral sunshine together explain why listeners ask which are the best tracks on Soft Tissue. The record rewards attentive listening rather than instant singalongs, and those attentive moments are concentrated in these standout cuts.
Key Points
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The best song is the centrepiece “Falling, the Light” for its ‘impossibly pretty guitar’ and emotional resonance.
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The album’s core strengths are detailed, restrained arrangements and a mood that rewards attentive, patient listening.
Themes
Fa
Critic's Take
Tindersticks’s Soft Tissue is a quietly haunting record that best reveals itself in songs like “New World” and “The Secret of Breathing”, where melancholic atmosphere and delicate textures win the ear. Kelly Murphy’s voice lingers on the album’s cinematic moods and sensual, subdued funk, praising those standout moments while noting the mid-album drift into repetition. The best songs on Soft Tissue are those that expand the band’s emotional resonance rather than re-tread it, and here “New World” and “Turned My Back” do precisely that. Overall, it is a gorgeous, rainy-night soundtrack that sometimes prefers mood over surprise.
Key Points
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The best song, notably “New World”, stands out for its explosive opening and engaging atmosphere.
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The album’s core strength is its cohesive, melancholic atmosphere and cinematic, sensual textures, though repetition weakens later tracks.
Themes
Critic's Take
The review finds Tindersticks' Soft Tissue to be a hushed, hypnotic record where the best songs - notably “New World” and “Always a Stranger” - emerge by leaning into worn-in intimacy rather than spectacle. The writer keeps a patient, observant tone, praising how “New World” lets the double bass hum like an old engine and how “Always a Stranger” serves as the emotional centerpiece with a pulsing, aching chorus. There is recurrent admiration for the record's restraint, the way Staples' voice exists in the mix, and how moments like “Turned My Back” and “The Secret of Breathing” trade momentum for atmosphere. The narrative suggests the best tracks are those that make silence do heavy lifting, leaving the listener with a lingering chest-level echo long after the songs end.
Key Points
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The best song, "Always a Stranger," is the emotional centerpiece because of its pulsing rhythm and aching, cyclical chorus.
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The album's core strength is its restrained, hypnotic atmosphere that uses silence and breath to create lingering emotional weight.