Tiger Suit is the third studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall. It was released by Relentless Records in Ireland on 24 September 2010, in the United Kingdom on 27 September 2010 and in the United States and Canada on 5 October 2010. However despite these release dates, iTunes Canada has the album available for pre-order with an arrival date of September 28, 2010 a full week before the release of the physical disc.

The album features more contemporary ingredients than her previous work. Several tracks harness electronic beats to her acoustic guitar.

"Fade Like a Shadow" was lead single in the United States and was released on 6 August 2010 via iTunes, and "(Still a) Weirdo" in the United Kingdom was released on 26 September 2010 via iTunes.

On July 2010, as advance to the album, Tunstall uploaded via YouTube a non-single video for the song "Push That Knot Away".

On 6 September 2010, Amazon.co.uk released a bonus track called "It Doesn't Have To Be Like This (Baby)" as a free download pre-release track of the album, available only in the United Kingdom, later being included on the AmazonMP3 version of the album in the US. The same track along with LCD Soundsystem's live cover "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down" from The Hiro Ballroom are available on the Japanese edition of the album.

Background

On 11 February 2010 reported that, " 'KT TUNSTALL has recorded her new album in Berlin's famous Hansa studio. The studio, beside the site of the Berlin Wall, was used to make legendary albums including David Bowie's Heroes and U2's Achtung Baby. Kt said: "I had an amazing three weeks recording in Hansa in Berlin in January and am finishing it all off in London." The Scots singer, who has been quiet of late, reassured fans she has been busy. She added: "I am still very much alive and have every music-making limb and muscle working in my laboratory of fierce-new-album-ness." Before her album comes out, KT played a stripped-down set at the Haiti fundraising gig at the Roundhouse in Camden on Thursday 25 February. She hoped to jump up with her old pal Seasick Steve for a song or two. Kt added: "My shizzle will feature some new faces and definitely some new songs, so come and have a listen and chuck some dough at a good cause."

She stated down the line from a promo stop in Minneapolis that she doesn't write on tour, "so it was essential that I took time out from her previous album Drastic Fantastic". She had started her time off by traveling through the Arctic, South America and India, so she had locked into a very primal, indigenous spirit by the time it came to recording.

Tunstall said that the album's title is inspired by a recurring dream she had, before discovering that 2010 is the Chinese Year of the Tiger. The dream is about her, seeing a tiger in her garden and goes outside to stroke it. She returns indoors and is seized by the fear that she could have been killed. Over the years, it has occurred to her that the reason the tiger responds so passively is that she herself is disguised as a tiger, wearing a tiger suit.http

She said that while writing and recording the album, she found a new sound she called "Nature techno", which mixes organic instrumentation with electronic and dance textures, much like Bjork has been doing since 1993. At a media showcase in London, KT Tunstall offered an unusual description of the songs from her forthcoming third album: "Like Eddie Cochran working with Leftfield".

Reception

Tiger Suit received generally positive reviews by critics. Aggregating website Metacritic reports a normalised rating of 73% based on fourteen critic reviews and AnyDecentMusic? reports a rating of 7.0 based on thirteen reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave it 4.5 out of five, saying it is "built upon Tunstall’s strongest set of songs yet" and calling it "an excellent album that satisfies as pure sound and as songwriting sustenance". Charlotte Richardson Andrews of The Guardian called it an "inventive follow-up to 2007's Drastic Fantastic, which merges her raspy folk with free-spirited campfire rhythms" and found it "introspective in places, but mostly fierce, claws-out fun". Rick Pearson of the Evening Standard awarded Tiger Suit four out of five stars, saying that Tunstall "has set her sights on the dancefloor with its 11 up-tempo tracks" and that "the album adds synthesisers and drum machines to Tunstall's platinum-selling pop formula". Victoria Dillingham of musicOMH wrote that "despite her self-confessed lack of confidence when it comes to crossing musical boundaries, Tunstall proves that in the guise of her Tiger Suit she can achieve anything she puts her mind to. Greg Kot from Entertainment Weekly thought that "with commercial radio all about that urban groove thing these days, it's little wonder that the Scottish singer KT Tunstall decorates her Lilith Fair-style songwriting chops with electro-pop beats" and stated that she "keeps enough off-kilter grit in her voice to make the claim in "(Still a) Weirdo" stick". Fiona Shepherd of The Scotsman felt that "Tunstall dresses up her songs with brave new sounds but at heart she's still a pop songwriter with rootsy inclinations" and stated that "there is a degree of tension throughout between Tunstall's determination to try something different and her love of a simple song".

Matthew Horton of BBC Music said that Tunstall "has settled into a familiar groove" and called the album "all no end of fun, without pushing any envelopes". James Berry of Yahoo! Music noticed that "there's the energy of electronic input underpinning some songs, but the moments that leave marks include the four-to-the-floor squall of "Push That Knot Away" , staccato simplicity of "(Still a) Weirdo" and the xylophone and acoustic guitar marching drum twinkle-fest "Fade Like a Shadow" and stated that the album sounds like "KT Tunstall armed with a better producer". Jeff Tamarkin from The Phoenix found it "tougher, louder, and more electronically endowed than its poppy predecessor" and noticed the "denser, rowdier sonics that permeate much of the record", but felt that "in her quest for catchy buzz lines, sacrificed clarity and craft". J. Edward Keyes of Rolling Stone said that Tunstall "leavens sleek pop songs with her warm-whiskey rasp" and stated that "one of Tiger Suits cleverest tricks" is that "it can so nimbly navigate such contradictions", awarding it three out of five stars.

Release history

Charts

References

Category:2010 albums

Category:Albums produced by Jim Abbiss

Category:KT Tunstall albums

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fr:Tiger Suit

Artist/Band Information

Kate Victoria Tunstall (born 23 June 1975), better known as KT Tunstall, is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. She broke into the public eye with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later... with Jools Holland. She has enjoyed commercial and critical success since, picking up three nominations before winning a BRIT Award, and a Grammy Award nomination. She is also the recipient of an Ivor Novello Award.

She has released three studio albums internationally: Eye to the Telescope (2004), Drastic Fantastic (2007) and Tiger Suit (2010).

Early life

KT Tunstall was born Kate Victoria Tunstall in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a half-Chinese, half-Scottish mother and an Irish father, and was adopted 18 days later by English parents who lived in St Andrews, Scotland. She has never met her biological father. Her adoptive father was employed as a physics lecturer at the University of St Andrews, and her adoptive mother was a school teacher. Tunstall's family also includes an older brother named Joe and a younger brother named Daniel. Her parents had no interest in music and owned no records—the only tape her father owned was a comedy recording by mathematician and musical satirist Tom Lehrer.Planet Rock Profiles - KT Tunstall

Tunstall grew up in St Andrews, a town in Fife, attending Lawhead Primary, then Dundee High School and Madras College in St. Andrews, but spending her last year of high school in New England at the Kent School, a selective prep school in Kent, Connecticut.Thomason, Carmel , Manchester Evening News, 10 March 2005 Accessed 24 February 2008

Music career

Career Beginnings

Throughout her 20s, she played in indie bands including Elia Drew and Tomoko, and focused on songwriting, as well as performing with members of the fledgling Fence Collective including work in the Skuobhie Dubh Orchestra with King Creosote, who recently supported her UK tour. She also lived with Gordon Anderson (The Beta Band and The Aliens), whom the song "Funnyman", on the album Drastic Fantastic, is about. She toured with the Klezmer band Oi Va Voi, and guested on their album, Laughter Through Tears.

UK-based label Relentless Records heard about Tunstall through their scouts and quickly put forward an independent offer. However, Tunstall had decided to sign with a US major, and initially passed up the offer. That deal did not work out and so she eventually decided to go with Relentless.

Although he recognised the potential in the quality of her voice and songs, at this point Relentless co-founder Shabs Jobanputra's assessment was that she "wasn't ready yet" and so together with her manager, Jobanputra discussed "the process of how we saw her happening and how we would work, why we thought the songs were great, why we thought she was great, and why it could really work if we took enough time." After the signing a lot of time was spent developing certain songs and honing her live performance before she was ready for release.

Eye to the Telescope (2004–2006)

Her début album, Eye to the Telescope, was released in late 2004. Tunstall's style of music varies from folk to pop. In Edinburgh and St Andrews, she played in a band called Red Light Stylus, which was regarded as one of the better bands to emerge from the limited Fife scene.

Tunstall's first appearance of note was a solo performance of her blues song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later... with Jools Holland. The performance was notable as she had only 24 hours to prepare after scheduled performer Nas cancelled. Her performance caught the eye of many viewers, although she had previously performed it on French television only some weeks before, upstaging more established acts such as The Cure, Embrace, and The Futureheads; she then went on to top the post-show poll on the website for that episode.

Shortly after the "Later" appearance, Eye to the Telescope was re-released and shot up the UK charts, eventually peaking at #3 (on its first release it had entered at #73); it was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize. It was released in the U.S. on 7 February 2006.

"Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" was one of the most successful singles and most radio-played songs of 2005 in the United Kingdom. On the UK Singles Charts, the single made number twenty-eight on the charts and on the US Billboard Hot 100, charted at number twenty. The next release from the album in the United Kingdom was "Other Side of the World" whilst "Suddenly I See" was released in the United States. Further singles released from the album were "Under the Weather" and "Another Place to Fall" which were also successful.

Tunstall's North American break came when American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee contacted her asking to use "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" as her choice for a Billboard-themed week. At the time, the song was #79 on the Billboard charts.

Tunstall had not been shy with her opinions regarding shows like Idol saying "The major problem I have is that it's completely controlled... they're told what to say. They're told how to sing." She chose to license the song as she felt that "no one on that show told Katharine McPhee to sing my song because no one knew it" Tunstall's belief was correct—the song was suggested to McPhee by Billboard columnist and author Fred Bronson. The song immediately jumped to #23 on the Billboard charts the week following McPhee's performance. She has later said "My status as a musician in America is pretty much cemented by Katharine McPhee, which is really interesting and funny for me because I've never been polite about how I feel about shows like that."

Acoustic Extravaganza (2006–2007)

Tunstall released a new acoustic album in May 2006, KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza, which was first only available via mail order from her website. The album was re-released in stores worldwide in October 2006.

Tunstall sang with Scottish band Travis on their 2007 album "The Boy With No Name", on the track "Under the Moonlight", a song written by Susie Hug (late of Katydids).

Drastic Fantastic (2007–2008)

Tunstall's second album, Drastic Fantastic, premièred on 3 September 2007 in Scotland, followed a week later on 10 September 2007 with the London release for the UK and 18 September 2007, in the US. In its first week, Drastic Fantastic reached #1 on the Scottish Album Charts, #3 on the UK Charts, and #9 on the U.S. Charts. The album's lead single "Hold On" was released in the UK in August 2007, débuting at #34 there before peaking at #21. The song was also very successful in certain European nations peaking at #19 in Italy, #19 in Norway, #26 in Switzerland and #39 in Ireland. The album's second single "Saving My Face" was released in December 2007. The song did not make the UK Top 40 Singles Charts, but however did managed to peak at #50 on the UK Singles Charts, managing 3 weeks on the UK Charts. Despite missing the UK Top 40, the song made the Top 40 in Italy, making #23 and in Switzerland peaking at #93. The album's third single, and final worldwide single, "If Only" was released in March 2008, becoming the second single from the album not to make the UK Top 40, it managed #45 in audition.

In the United States, "Hold On" was moderately successful, charting at number ninety-five on the US Billboard Pop Chart and number twenty-seven on the US Billboard Adult Top 40. However, on the main Hot 100 charts, it stalled, failing to make impact inside the Top 100, causing it to chart at number one-hundred and four on the US Billboard Hot 100. As for Drastic Fantasic, it became one of her best charting albums to date, charting at number three on the UK Album Charts, topping the Scottish Album Charts and making the top ten of the US Billboard 200 album charts, charting at number nine. Further singles released from Drastic Fantasic were "Saving My Face" and "If Only" which were moderately successful, charting at number fifty and forty-five on the UK Singles Charts respectively.

Tunstall commented that the photograph for the album cover was influenced by the 1970s rock star, Suzi Quatro.

On 5 October 2007 the U.S. discount department store chain Target, in association with NBC, released a special KT Tunstall Christmas EP on CD. Sounds of the Season: The KT Tunstall Holiday Collection contains six exclusive tracks:

*"2000 Miles"

*"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"

*"Mele Kalikimaka (Christmas In Hawaii)"

*"Sleigh Ride"

*"Fairytale of New York"

*"Lonely This Christmas"

On 10 December 2007 it was released in Europe through Relentless Records as a digital download only, under the title Have Yourself A Very KT Christmas.

In 2008 KT Tunstall recorded a song for the album Songs for Survival, in support of the indigenous rights organization Survival International. In a video for Survival International, she speaks of music as being a force for good, and about what she has learned about tribal people on this project. She also discusses various issues concerning our culture of consumption and greed, our relation to the earth and the importance of indigenous rights in the world today. (video)

Tunstall also worked with Suzanne Vega on her 2007 album Beauty & Crime, singing backup on songs "Zephyr and I" and "Frank and Ava". It was revealed in the booklet by Vega that the two had never met during the process of making the album.

Tiger Suit (2009-present)

On 11 February 2010 reported that Tunstall had recorded her new album in Berlin's Hansa Studios. The studio, next to where Berlin Wall stood, was used to make legendary albums including David Bowie's "Heroes" and U2's Achtung Baby. Tunstall said, "I had an amazing three weeks recording in Hansa in Berlin in January and am finishing it all off in London." The album, titled Tiger Suit, was released in the United Kingdom on 27 September 2010 and in the United States on 5 October 2010. The album's first single was "Fade Like a Shadow" in the United States and "(Still a) Weirdo" in United Kingdom. These lead singles were released before the album.

On 8 march 2011, Tunstall recorded her first live record in London.

Live performances

KT Tunstall at Glastonbury in June 2005 cropped.jpgthumbrightuprightTunstall performing at the 2005 Glastonbury Festival with her Gibson Dove guitar

Tunstall is known for her live performances, in which she combines use of an Akai E2 Headrush loop pedal, which she affectionately calls "Wee Bastard", with a full four-piece backing band (Luke Bullen on drums, Arnulf Lindner on bass, Sam Lewis on lead guitar and Kenny Dickenson on keyboards, trumpet, percussion and various other instruments), as well as her two backup singers (Cat Sforza and Ami Richardson)

Similar to her initial début on music show Later... with Jools Holland, Tunstall first débuted in the United States performing on various talk shows, although it was not until The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she was interviewed. Since her talk show days, she has performed at numerous large concerts such as the Hogmanay Edinburgh Concert in 2005, the American leg of Live Earth in 2007, and the Nobel Peace Prize Concert also in 2007. Tunstall said prior to the Hogmanay performance that "This is the gig of a lifetime... This Hogmanay party is probably the best-known and best-loved in the world, and I've been here a few times over the years dreaming of being the one entertaining the crowds. Until we're on that stage I won't believe we're allowed on it."

Awards and nominations

In Tunstall's breakthrough year, 2005, she received a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize, which eventually went to Antony and the Johnsons; and was awarded Best Track for her composition and performance of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" by Q magazine.

In January the following year, 2006, she received three BRIT nominations - British Live Act, British Breakthrough Act, and British Female Solo Artist - eventually gaining the award for British Female Solo Artist, remarking that she wished to share it with fellow nominee Kate Bush. Later the same month she was given a European Border Breakers Award, which recognises the top-selling European Union artists outside their home country. Also, in 2006 she won the Ivor Novello Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Suddenly I See", along with Scottish Style Awards "Most Stylish Band or Musician". stv.tv

She gained more nominations in 2007 and 2008: a 2007 Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" (eventually going to Christina Aguilera for "Ain't No Other Man"), and another BRIT nomination for British Female Solo Artist – the same accolade she had won in 2006.

Personal life

Although her first name is Kate, she chooses to go by KT as her first name, saying " just makes me think of a buxom lass baking bread for her man working in the fields. I have no problem with that, but it's just not really how I pictured being a rock star." Also, Tunstall spells her first name KT (as opposed to Katie) to differentiate herself from fellow singer Katie Melua.

Tunstall sparked some controversy in 2005 when she publicly criticised singer/songwriter Dido, stating that the artist "can't fucking sing" after several fans compared the two musically. Tunstall later apologised, stating that she did not want to be involved in a public feud. Later, she denied rumours or assumptions concerning her sexual orientation by expressing gratitude to her gay and lesbian following, and said the rainbow patterned suspenders on her début record cover were not intended as a statement of identity or politics as she was unaware of the symbolism at the time.

In April 2007, Tunstall underwent surgery to correct an undersized kidney, a problem caused by a childhood infection.

In 2003 Tunstall began dating Luke Bullen, the drummer in her band. On Christmas Day, 2007, Bullen proposed to her at her parents' home in St Andrews, Scotland, and the couple were married on 6 September 2008 at the Flodigarry Country House Hotel on the Isle Of Skye in Scotland.

In September 2008 Tunstall joined the Disko Bay Cape Farewell expedition to the West Coast of Greenland. Cape Farewell is a UK based arts organisation that brings artists, scientists and communicators together to instigate a cultural response to climate change.

In 2010, Tunstall publicly disowned her stepfather, David Orr, because of Orr's decision to run as a British National Party candidate in the general election for Livingston. Orr is the husband of Tunstall's birth mother, Carol Ann Orr, who gave her up for adoption just days after she was born.

In 2007 Tunstall gave her backing to climate change campaign Global Cool.

Discography

Studio Albums

*2004: Eye to the Telescope

*2006: KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza

*2007: Drastic Fantastic

*2010: Tiger Suit

Other Albums

*2001: Tracks In July

*2007: Have Yourself A Very KT Christmas

*2011: KT Tunstall's Live in London March 2011

References

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