Saint Etienne: International (and new single: Glad)

Save It For A Rainy Day. Nimble 80s disco verve that gets cranked up. Think Vicious Pink levels of intoxicating.
 
Brand New Me. Love the Dusty title for a kitschy song that recalls one they did already that sampled her. Absolutely deee-groovey. A big high.
 
Two Lovers. Staking their claim for a rich Richard X worthy banger. Ultra gorge. Another peak so far. This song has swallowed me whole.
 
Why Are You Calling. We're lulling, but the sharp burst of drums and guitar and overall sound and groove is providing quite the champagne flow of pop prowess. I shouldn't be surprised. Really pleased with all this so far.
 
He's Gone. Big expectations here. Sharp house beats and the piano rapture are expectations transformed into transfixing excess. Cracknell mumbling words that probably mean something - I'm drunk on it all.
 
The Last Time. Seriously? That whispy voice whisking me up like candyfloss, the dreamy open-ended pop bubble hilariously burst back into reality with a mention of Facebook. This song is yet another from them I'm sending an instant friend request to.
 
jyxz said:
I’m giving it a 10/10 but in reality it probably isn’t a faultless album.

There’s a couple of shonkey nox moments to be heard and yes The Go Betweens was the one that didn’t sit well at first but eventually came good.

Haven’t listened to the bonus tracks yet.
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Totally worthy of a 10.

I'll pretend I'm reviewing for Q in the 90s and award it 4 stars. Essential in its genre.
 
The mixes are mainly rather good too.

Dancing Heart a bit of an epic, Rainy Day going more Italodisco and He's Gone a pleasingly straightforward clubbier reworking.
 
If they think I'm paying over £4 to deliver a cd untracked they can DO ONE
 
Shirley said:
If they think I'm paying over £4 to deliver a cd untracked they can DO ONE
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I had this discussion elsewhere recently and whilst, on the surface, I agree, everyone misses it’s a postage and packing charge. So postage itself is £3.60 for first class or £2.00 for second. Presuming they go for the second, you need to add the cost for the (ooh) padded bag, plus the cost for the person’s time stuffing it, taking it to the post office etc. and they will lose c. 15-20% of the original fee you’ve paid to the selling platform and payment platform.

I get this with postage fees on Discogs all the time. “It’s £2, why are you charging £3.25?”. And I don’t even charge anything for my time…
 
I think we have been spoilt by free delivery from the big companies and obviously postage costs have gone up a lot.

Saying that, £5+ delivery for a CD from artist shops is more and more common now which feels a bit hard to swallow. Just been charged 80p for one CD from Banquet and now wondering exactly how they are going to deliver it!
 
The Rough Trade vinyl/EP was delivered last night by Royal Mail. The bonus EP is more lo-fi electro, a bit darker. None would really fit on the album but very good in their own right. Not a noodle to be found :disco:
 
I guess cutting the interludes for streaming does make sense but it does change the flow of the album a bit, as the interludes help to bind together what is Saint Etienne play the greatest hits.

I'm very into Save It For a Rainy Day this afternoon (both versions). I keep coming back to the bonus EP as well, especially Walk Away From Her and Things Break Down. I've changed my mind, I think Walk Away From Her at least would fit on the album in that final third - it sounds that bit more polished than the others. Also it is the only extra so far with a production credit for Tim Powell so maybe it was in the mix at one point.
 
Anyone kind enough to share the bonus tracks from the Official store……(the remixes)?

I’ll be your best friend……
 
Can you believe I’ve still not listened? I feel as the last album it’s going to upset me…and that I need to properly listen to it, not just on the hoof over here.
 
I’ve listened twice, a few more listens needed before a final opinion is formed but I feel positive about it so far and there’s something just so reassuring about hearing Sarah sing these kind of songs.
 
I didn;t feel like paying £14 for a plain CD...if I see it cheaper during the week, I'll indulge.
 
Sheena said:
Can you believe I’ve still not listened? I feel as the last album it’s going to upset me…and that I need to properly listen to it, not just on the hoof over here.
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That's fair. There are always things that need a sit down listen, maybe you need yr own 4 walls, the LP on the turntable and a small sweet sherry.
 
Listened to the new song with Confidence Man a few times this morning - like it, catchy and easy on the ear
 
They are currently on just over 5k. Number 10 and 11 both did just under 6.4k full week last week. Fingers crossed.
 
And quickly realised
We'd see photos of their holidays
Until the day we DIED
:D

It's all very nice but I'm not exactly OVERWHELMED
 




There is another Vince Clarke song in reserve and another Tim Powell one too. Pete also confirmed they have other unreleased material and pretty much said archive type releases would continue.

It was inevitable they would compile themselves again next year (and it has been quite a while since the last one to be fair). It sounded like they intend to play festivals and a GH tour would follow those spots rather than being earlier in the year.

And bless Pete's panic at being asked to choose five songs/albums. I'd be the same.
 
7,100 total. Only 208 copies off number 6 and their highest ever charting album. Top 10 is still a good result.
 
And in terms of comparison with their commercial heyday, #3 on sales only.
 
Oof. Toyah was #10 on the first midweek as well, wasn't she? Surprised that (or being #11 on sales alone) wasn't enough for her to at least skim the bottom of the chart. Still, that's the great chart equation for you.
 
I was surprised that Toyah's record and the Ronan Keating reissue were higher on the sales chart than CMAT's second week. She's 'only' down to #40 overall, but it really shows how insanely front-loaded physical sales must be for everybody these days.
 
I imagine ever increasingly so, physical sales are from website pre-orders. Obviously it's been like that with amazon etc and fewer actual physical stores, but the seemingly continuously expanding number of formats largely available from artist websites seems to be a more recent phenomenon. Those sales going through at the start of the week must massively skew things.
 
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