{"id":46054,"date":"2025-09-08T17:08:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/08\/saint-etienne-throw-themselves-a-retirement-dance-party\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T17:08:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:08:04","slug":"saint-etienne-throw-themselves-a-retirement-dance-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/08\/saint-etienne-throw-themselves-a-retirement-dance-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Saint Etienne Throw Themselves a Retirement Dance Party"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

The sophisticated U.K. pop trio say goodbye at their height of their power with International <\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\n

\n\tIn terms of wide appeal and commercial success, Saint Etienne<\/a> always deserved better. The U.K. trio emerged in the early Nineties with a cosmopolitan sound that thrived on a subtle tension: their appetite for clubby anthems contrasted an obsession with the silky contours of retro British pop \u2013 think Dusty Springfield, or the jet set mystique of John Barry movie themes. 1998\u2019s\u00a0Good Humor<\/em>\u00a0and 2000\u2019s\u00a0Sound of Water<\/em>\u00a0were the kind of introspective records that made you feel nostalgic about the present. Subsequent albums became more experimental \u2013 last year\u2019s\u00a0The Night<\/em>\u00a0was a whispered descent into the slo-mo pleasures of ambient art-pop.<\/p>\n

\n\tNow that its members are approaching 60, Etienne is calling it a day. Their 13th<\/sup>\u00a0album,\u00a0International<\/em>, interprets the ritual of early retirement sendoff as a boisterous dance party with plenty of music royalty cameos showing up to pay their respects. On opening track \u201cGlad,\u201d featuring the Chemical Brothers\u2019 Tom Rowlands and Doves guitarist Jez Williams, the band revisits its Nineties zeitgeist with Britpop guitar, euphoric synths, and a ragged, thumping downbeat. Sarah Cracknell\u2019s voice is tempered with a touch of honeyed grit, but has lost none of of its ability to convey the bittersweet aftertaste of romantic loss.<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tEtienne\u2019s aesthetic has always trafficked in the conventions of dance-pop, but their songs are hopeful and wide-eyed, avoiding any hints of hedonistic decadence. There is an aura of late summer innocence about the icy synth-pop of \u201cTwo Lovers,\u201d a duet with Vince Clarke, and the stark acid jazz edges of \u201cTake Me To The Pilot.\u201d A melancholy gem, \u201cFade\u201d combines a trip-hop beat with delicate orchestral textures.<\/p>\n

\n\tTwo years ago, Etienne keyboardist and author Bob Stanley published a biography of The Bee Gees, and a few moments on\u00a0International<\/em>\u00a0reflect the craftsmanship of vintage pop-rock. A collaboration with Haircut 100\u2019s Nick Heyward yields a lovely Eighties time capsule that opens with a luscious keyboard flourish, then becomes darkly atmospheric on the bridge \u2013 you can almost imagine the accompanying music video, circa 1986. By the time we reach the wispy, aptly titled \u201cThe Last Time,\u201d Etienne\u2019s message becomes loud and clear. This is a band at the height of its powers that could have easily continued making great records, and instead chose not to. The exuberant creative highs that fuel\u00a0International<\/em>\u00a0are both devastatingly sad and the best possible farewell.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sophisticated U.K. pop trio say goodbye at their height of their power with International In terms of wide appeal and commercial success, Saint…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":46055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}