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Pop perfectionists Saint Etienne return with 10th studio album

Thirty years on from their groundbreaking debut Foxbase Alpha, the much-loved London trio Saint Etienne announce their 10th studio album I’ve Been Trying To Tell You slated for release on September 10th via Heavenly Recordings.

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The band’s most recent album was the 2017 release Home Counties. 

While they’ve never found mainstream success is Australia, the band is a favourite of music aficionados. The trio have constantly delivered perfectly crafted pop songs across multiple albums, film soundtracks and compilation collections.

Over the decades the band have collaborated with Kylie Minogue, Massive Attack singer Shara Nelson, Paul Van Dyk, and French singer Etienne Daho. They’ve also delivered remixes for The 2 Bears, Manic Street Preachers, Kid Loco, The Drums, and many others.

The band shared the first sound of their new work. Pond House – an evocative collision of undulating beats and samples. The new album was made largely from samples and sounds drawn from the years 1997-2001.

For the first time, Saint Etienne didn’t record together in a studio. The album was completed remotely, in Hove (Pete Wiggs), Oxford (Sarah Cracknell) and Bradford (Bob Stanley), in collaboration with film and TV composer Gus Bousfield, who contributed to two songs on the album.

“To me it’s about optimism, and the late nineties” Bob Stanley explains, “and how memory is an unreliable narrator. Pete and Gus have done a properly amazing production job. I think it sounds gorgeous.”

Singer Sarah Cracknell noted that the last time the band heavily used samples was on their 1993 record, the second album in their long career.

“It’s the first sample driven album we’ve made since So Tough and it’s been a really refreshing experience, such fun! It’s both dreamy and atmospheric, late summer sounds.”

Bandmate Pete Wiggs says the band definately dug deep to make a special sound.

“We’ve really pulled apart and dived deep into the samples; the concept and each of our interpretations of it have made this a very special sounding album, we hope you think so too.”

The new record is out in September at will feature eight tracks. They are;  Music Again, Pond House, Fonteyn, Little K, Blue Kite, I Remember It Well, Penlop and Broad River.

OIP Staff


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