ALBUM REVIEW: Saint Etienne – International

Heavenly Recordings

Released: 05.09.25

Image by Rob Baker Ashton

It feels appropriate that the last AOTM in a print version of NARC. should also be the last album from
Saint Etienne, an outfit who have brought us so much sheer bloody joy over their 35-year career. Their
grip on the public’s attention might have loosened a little after the first two or three albums (stone cold
classics all) but they kept working and evolving: into soundtracks, films and books, into their own
beautifully constructed world of nostalgia and possibility, all infused with an uncanny understanding of pop, in all its forms.

Saint Etienne have always been understated, so while International is a victory lap of sorts in the way it touches on so many highlights from their career (and contains some witty callbacks), there’s no
mawkishness or grandstanding. And it has to be said that while the desire for a neatly symmetrical story arc would want us to consider International to be as good as their practically perfect debut Foxbase Alpha, it’s not that, not quite. But not many records are, and International is mostly brilliant.

A host of collaborators help reinforce what Saint Etienne are best at: intelligent, brilliantly-crafted,
dancefloor-inflected pop classics. Opener Glad is a delight, a stomping paean to finding joy in the
mundane that distils everything that’s great about what they do. Dancing Heart is squelchy electro pop, one of two collaborations with Tim from Xenomania, the other being He’s Gone, the moodiest song here – heartbreak set to house pianos. The Nick Heyward duet The Go Between is the only comparatively weak song here – like a slightly sub-par Colourfield single – but it’s still got a nagging earworm quality.

There are lush, wafty after-party vibes to Sweet Melodies, Save It For A Rainy Day is squelchy,
shimmering electro funk and Brand New Me is probably the best thing on International, a close relative to Nothing Can Stop Us (one of the greatest records ever made). Take Me To The Pilot (with Phil Hartnoll) is the album’s undeniable rave anthem and it absolutely bangs. Closer The Last Time is a lush, sweetly melancholy and gently witty farewell.

Saint Etienne are leaving us but these songs will be always be with us. And that’s a magical thing.