Giving it its own thread. Just got a promo link and I'll dip in later, but here's some of the key stuff from the PR, building on what was already known:
Saint Etienne’s new album, International, is their final album-length statement, after the group’s 35-year excursion through pop. A dreamlike drift with friends and collaborators, International features cameos from the higher echelons of pop - 80s chart heroes, electro, acid house and all points in-between, from Vince Clarke to Nick Heyward, Confidence Man to Erol Alkan, Chemical Brothers, Orbital, Doves and Xenomania, through to the lesser known, but equally exhilarating Bradfordians Augustin Bousfield and Flash Cassette (an artist described as “sitting somewhere between Funkadelic and a SEGA Mega Drive”). Saint Etienne are the 90s band who never left us, never imploded, and never adhered to clichéd excess....Having the will to say ‘no’ and only record when inspiration truly appeared is a sensibility that led straight to the recording of International. Mixed and recorded in Brighton with Tim Powell (best known for his Xenomania forays with Sugababes, Girls Aloud and Pet Shop Boys) International was written in tandem with their previous ambient release, The Night, acting almost as an antidote to that album’s nocturnal, continuous sleep aid that embodied each side.
This final album, in contrast, is almost entirely up-tempo. The idea of distilling the group to its pure electro-pop essence was a driving force behind its creation. Modern and contemporary, but not overly hip. By exploring some of the earlier sounds of their career, it is tinged with melodies and melancholy capturing the era when it all began. “This is where we are, and who we’ve worked with, and the place we’ve arrived at,” says Bob. With a nod to Foxbase Alpha, its interludes are read in different languages and feature minor anecdotes from the band’s career recorded by actor Caroline Catz, broadcaster Colin Murray, the author Isabel Waidner, their frequent collaborator Debsey Wykes and presenter Katie Puckrick, who interviewed Pete in an inebriated state on Channel 4 once upon a time. “As it was our last record, we managed to pull in some of our favourite people. It’s like throwing a landmark birthday party,” laughs Pete. Add to that a rollcall of fabled producers and songwriters from the 1980s to 2025, and sleevenotes by the unparalleled critic Jonathan Meades, and you have an album that stands up as a celebration of the different worlds – from city to suburb, bedroom to dancefloor, pop to willful obscurity – that have embodied their recorded output.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 13 August 2025 18:02 (one week ago)