3/5/2025
Saint Etiennes’s eleventh studio album, ‘The Night’ feels like a continuation of 2021’s ‘I’ve Been Trying to Tell You’, one of my clear favourites of their discography. In the same ambient vein, this is a mesmerising journey into the tranquil hours of the night. It’s a testament to the band’s ability to evolve while staying completely true to their essence. A beautifully crafted album that has nods to their back catalogue without being backward looking. A tiny thing, but the album opener with its field recording start had me thinking of snatches of ‘Mario’s Café’ and ‘Chicken Soup’ from 1993’s ‘So Tough’. I love ‘Half Light’ with its languid, drawn out strings and Sarah Cracknell’s vocals floating gracefully over the top. A real standout moment though is ‘Preflyte’, a poignant track that talks of the bittersweet emotions of letting go, beautifully encapsulated in the lines: “All the places that you’ll go, And the people that you’ll know.” NO, there’s just some dust in my eye, OK? The liner notes, courtesy of Benjamin Myers are quite something too: “The mind is a terrible thing to race. A pillow shouldn’t be a prison, but a portal. Yet when one slips beneath that ten-tog duvet and the head hits that duck-down crown, too often the world comes rushing in. Here in that hinterland every past regret is ruminated oven every physical twinge the onset of an incurable ailment and the infernal chattering chorus of one’s own critics is stuck on a loop, until only the first fingers of dawn light are able to nudge the needle from the groove with a fiendish, fluff-covered crackle. Wake up? l haven’t had a single wink, mate. But sleep and the night belong to everyone.” I’ve never felt quite so seen. It might not quite peak the last album for me personally, but my word it’s a close second. Absolutely beautiful. Best experienced in a quiet moment you may have, allow the time to appreciate the subtle beauty of this ambient pop as a soundtrack to your reflective solace. Whilst gazing at that beautiful vinyl…
Favorite tracks
The Night
12/13/2024
