Synth-pop masters Saint Etienne return with a new album of beat-heavy synthesizers and warm melodic vocals, creating a collection of uplifting and exciting electronic dance songs.
Their UK single "Action" is a beautifully building dance track that seems to reminisce about old friends. "Amateur" is a rigid mix of synthesized sounds and flowing vocals. "Language Lab" is a gentle acoustic melody with sampled violins, horns and flutes, which conjures the image of a lazy summer afternoon. "Soft Like Me" is a bouncy, hip-hop, sing-a-long, which combines singer Sarah Cracknell's warm breathy vocals with Wildflower's tough cool rap on women's feminine and masculine qualities. "The Way We Live" is a smoothly synthesizer-based song with string samples and some jazzy organ and piano fills.
"New Thing" is a beat and bass heavy track, which seems to draw upon both the new "electroclash" scene of music by Ladytron as well as the early new wave music of Gary Numan. "Summerisle" is a laid back electronic track with relaxed vocals and acoustic guitars. "Stop & Think It Over" is sweet and slow and sounds like it would accompany a soap opera or drama. "Shower Scene" is a wistful dance track with the memorable verse "in the rain… call my name".
Saint Etienne stretch their sound with the building istrumental intro of "The Way We Live Now", which moves from lo-fi telephone-like keyboards to sweeping strings. "B92" is a dramatically theatrical synth track that sounds like both the Phantom of the Opera and a war with lyrics "The boys are back in town, and nothing can stop us now, here with our wall of sound" while throwing in some static and movie samples. The title track and album closer "Finisterre" (which appropriately translates to "the end of the earth") is a track of mostly spoken vocals that sounds like a critique of modern culture.
Saint Etienne Finisterre
