Saint Etienne
(Foreign Office)
By all rights, we shouldn’t even be having this discussion. After all, Britain’s Saint Etienne—sprightly dance-pop enthusiasts, equal parts Dusty and Kylie, versed in both ‘60s girl group and ‘90s techno—had their moment in the trip-hop sun, then disappeared from view, right? Not so fast. For Etienne acolytes, and there are many of us, it’s been 18 years of quiet but passionate devotion, accompanied by scores of records, many of them very much under the radar. Such as the material at hand.
“Here are a few dozen tracks,” writes St. E’s Bob Stanley, in the extensive liner notes to the four-CD Boxette, “which at one point were our least wanted, but in time became our most desirable.” Over the years Saint Etienne—Stanley, his mixmaster-in-crime Pete Wiggs and sultry chanteuse Sarah Cracknell—has made exclusive releases available to members of its Lovers Unite fanclub, starting with 1994’s I Love To Paint. That rarer-than-hens’-teeth album, along with 1999’s Built On Sand and 2002’s Asleep At The Wheels of Steel, comprise ¾ of Boxette, and the delights are plentiful. Paint is particular is a must-hear, ordered like an early Etienne album (between-song interludes, vocal snippets from TV and film, etc.), and flashing back to the glory days of Foxbase Alpha and So Tough via choice outtakes such as jangly folk-rocker “Sushi Rider,” the dancey dubadelica of “Fife Coast” and sleek disco homage, “Everything I Touch Turns to Gold.”
Sand chronicles St. E in the latter half of the ‘90s, although it’s less cohesive than Paint, more odds ‘n’ sods in feel (but don’t miss the luminous Dusty In Memphis-goes-trip-hop gem “Keep Nothing”). Wheels of Steel covers 2001-2002 and mostly captures the instrumental side of Stanley and Wiggs. Disc 4, titled Eric Random, could also be deemed oddy/soddy, collecting everything from a 1993 cover of David Bowie’s “Absolute Beginnners” to a haunting 2002 collaboration with Vashti Bunyan titled “The Same But Different” to the 1997 fanclub-only Valentine’s Day 97 EP (the New Orderish “Departure Lounge” ranks as one of Cracknell’s most affecting vocal performances ever). But as with Paint, the dozen songs dotting Eric hold up as a satisfying, well-sequenced whole.
“How did we get this far?” croons, Cracknell, wistfully, in “Departure Lounge.” Though she was probably singing to an errant lover, the question could also be posed among the three members of St. E. Whatever they conclude, here’s hoping they keep doing it.
Standout Tracks: “Fife Coast,” “Departure Lounge” FRED MILLS
