Bob, Pete and Sarah’s thirteenth and final album isn’t a sad and regretful farewell but a joyous final party
“We all have different reasons for why it’s time to say goodbye, but for me I always wanted to finish on a high, I didn’t want to dribble off. We wanted this to be a peak. There’s going to be a lot of tears. There are no egos, which is the fundamental thing. There’s no bickering or arguing, we’ve never fallen out or had a row – ever.” – SARAH CRACKNELL.
So, this is how it all started. In 1990 two childhood friends from the suburbs of South London, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, decided to make records. Having no musicianship skills themselves (though Pete now has a music degree) but brimming with ideas this was ambitious. Their background was in fanzines which Bob had then extended to writing for the NME and Melody Maker covering such things as dance music, the Stone Roses and the Field Mice.
So what they did have were plenty of ideas, knowledge of how the music scene worked and a love of those 7- inch and 12-inch black vinyl disks. With the help of producer Ian Catt and his home studio equipment it all started promisingly. They made the brilliant Only Love Can Break Your Heart, a Neil Young cover sung by guest vocalist Moira Lambert and later remixed by Andy Weatherall as Only Love Can Break Your Heart ( A Mix of Two Halves). Not as commercially successful as it should have been, due to a pink barcode which wouldn’t scan properly, the record was however one of the best records of the year.
Initially the plan was just to get some records made and put out but with the intention of having a revolving guest vocalist on each single they created. The idea was also to make a record inspired by the mix tapes that they used to hand to each other as mates – tapes which would include favourite music preceded by clips from movies and adverts. When they met Sarah Cracknell however, who had a great voice and who they got on well with, the idea of having guest vocalists was forgotten and Sarah became the permanent singer with the band. The mix tape concept did prevail and they made their first album- the brilliant 1991 Foxbase Alpha. Eleven more consistently interesting albums followed.
Fast forward 34 years. When Saint Etienne made the announcement earlier this year that their next album release was going to be their very last it came as quite a shock to many people. Gaps between albums are often common with Saint Etienne. You often get the feeling, especially recently, that each album is a meeting of inseparable friends who now live in different parts of the country, have families and projects of their own but create something special when they meet up again. Putting a stop on this, at least in terms of working together as a band, seemed a surprising decision.
So here it is. Their thirteenth and final album. International isn’t a sad and regretful farewell. It’s a joyous final party. It’s also meeting of friends and influences. The title of the album (also the name of a track on the early influential OMD album Dazzle Ships) reflects their cosmopolitan viewpoint; voice clips include Swedish, Japanese and French samples; Saint Etienne have previously recorded albums in Sweden and Berlin.
The opening track, Glad, was the first song from the album to be released as a single and has Sarah Cracknell’s voice at its sweetest with a track arranged by Chemical Brother Tom Rowlands and a lovely echoey sample reminiscent of Behaviour era Pet Shop Boys. Dancing Heart is a straightforward late night euphoric dance song while Nick Heyward duets on The Go Between, his voice sounding mature and unrecognisable at first but obviously an early influence along with Vince Clarke who also contributes to the album.
Sweet Melodies also has a Pet Shop Boys tinge to it and, in keeping with the title, a haunting melody, while the equally haunting Take Me to The Pilot, one of the best tracks on the record, has contributions from Orbital’s Paul Hartnoll. Brand New Me, also released as a single accompanied by an Archies style animated video, has Sarah duetting with Janet Planet from Confidence Man. Tim Powell of Xenomania produces a lot of the album with the band.
It’s an album full of subtle joys – a sleeve note from Jonathan Meades, Caroline Catz reading out a list of equipment used by Delia Derbyshire, Katie Puckrick interviewing Pete Wiggs about when in a stoned state he told her his biggest influence was Mothra the Giant Moth and a voice clip from Debsey Wykes, ex Dolly Mixture and long-time associate of the band. Reflecting where Bob now lives there’s also a Bradford tinge to the record with tracks produced by Augustin Bousefield, a song co-written by Flash Cassette and a sleeve design by West Riding Arts Research (Tessa Norton, Bob’s wife).
The last song – entitled (what else) The Last Song – is a joyous and emotional finish, introduced with a clip of the current Countdown presenter Colin Murray reciting word for word the voice clip of Richard Whiteley used on Foxbase Alpha. Full circle. I look forward to Bob, Pete and Sarah’s future projects.
❉ Saint Etienne: ‘International’ (Heavenly Recordings HVNLP240) released 5 September 2025. Purchase LP/CD/Digital Album.
❉ Currently co-writing a book on Steven Wells, James Collingwood is based in West Yorkshire and has been writing for a number of years. He currently also writes for the Bradford Review magazine for which he has conducted more than 30 interviews and has covered music, film and theatre. Bluesky: jamescollingwood.bsky.social
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