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| Cracknell - mint |
It won't have escaped your notice that Saint Etienne have a new long player out at the moment: I've Been Trying to Tell You is as diverse as you'd expect it to be yet, at the same time, as familiar as you want it to be. Does that make sense? That's a rhetorical question btw; if I get asked one more time, after somebody has told me the most basic of information, 'does that make sense?,' I think I'll swing for them. Does that make sense?
I fell in love with Sarah Cracknell's pipes a long, long time ago; and still her voice makes me giddy. Even though she never sang on their first single Only Love Can Break Your Heart, I still, in my head, think it's her. Does that make sense?
Anyway, enough of this rhetoric nonsense. This is Sarah Cracknell - taken from, surely, a contender for Album of the Year. I hope you like it.
Saint Etienne - Pond House (2021)
I think I have to get this; I get the feeling it may be more of a grower for me than an instant response - a few have suggested that it works best with the full Alasdair McLellan companion film and I can imagine how that might be - the associated mood of the visuals working in perfect union with the soundtrack, enhancing them both. But I must give myself time to absorb it... I love the premise behind it too about unreliable memories!
ReplyDeleteI do hope I'm not bursting your Sarah Cracknell bubble but on this track I hear it's a Natalie Imbruglia vocal sample (from Beauty On Fire) Lovely all the same!
I also fear I am one of those people who says the 'Does that make sense?' thing more than I ever should... not because I think another person wouldn't have the ability to understand me, but because I worry that I don't make sense!
What a chump! Looks like I've been hoisted by my own petard. I'm kickstarting a new vinyl listening club next month and have already earmarked this album for one of the early sessions; you should come down...
DeleteA new vinyl listening club? After reading the Magnus Mills book I'll be intrigued to see how it turns out. You will no doubt keep us posted.
DeleteI will! My last venture hit the buffers after a year when the venue 'moved us on'. This is a brand new venture and a brand new venue. The only thing that isn't brand new is me. And the album (tho' if I had have gone with St Etienne as the opener even that would've been hot off the press).
DeleteMy 'in' with Saint Etienne, some years after its release, was the film Finisterre (and after that, What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?) I have the new album and film (CD/DVD set), and bought Foxbase Alpha and So Tough from Fopp earlier today. I'll also be going to see the band for the first time at the Alexandra Palace Theatre in November. I'm a bit of a 'late adopter'! I'd be interested to hear more about the vinyl listening session...
ReplyDeleteR - Ally Pally! Good on ya! I can see I have a lot to learn about St. Etienne from you and C!
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The Wanderer said...
Finisterre and What Have... are required viewing for psychogeographers :-) I've finally listened to the new album (I wanted to wait for an opportunity to lie back, close my eyes and listen to it properly via speakers with no-one else at home). It's terrific.
Saint Etienne: the band that keep on giving; I love them so much.
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