The band wants to go out with a bang on ‘International’ - their 13th and final LP
After 35 years recording together, Saint Etienne have announced that their 13th album, International, will be their last.
Co-produced with Tim Powell (formerly of Xenomania), the album will be released on Heavenly Recordings this September and features collaborations with Erol Alkan, Vince Clarke, Nick Heyward, Confidence Man’s Janet Planet and Paul Hartnoll of Orbital.
To coincide with the announcement, the band has shared Glad, the first single to be taken from the album.
Co-written and produced with Tom Rowlands of the Chemical Brothers, Glad is a sparkling piece of uplifting pop, and incredibly catchy. The song also features Jez Williams from Doves on guitar. Talking about the track, Sarah Cracknell said: “We asked Tom if he had any songs in progress that might suit Saint Etienne and he sent a backing track that he’d been working on with Jez from Doves. We fell in love with it straight away and the top line melody and words for Glad came easy.”
Pete Wiggs added: “The song is about taking pleasure in everyday things like nature and the outdoors when life is otherwise getting you down.”
Watch the video below:
Going Out With A Bang
The group aren’t splitting up as such – they still remain the best of friends – but they don’t feel like they want to go on forever and wanted to go out with a bang. International follows hot on the heels of The Night – released last November.
Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs have known each other since childhood and started the group in 1990 with their classic cover of Neil Young’s Only Love Can Break Your Heart. Sarah Cracknell joined for their third single Nothing Can Stop Us and the Foxbase Alpha album in 1991. Since then they have branched out into films, books and curation, and became artists in residence at the Southbank Centre. The group simply feels it is now time to draw a line under new recordings.
International is very different in style and approach to The Night, but both records are pure Saint Etienne. For International, the trio decided to ask friends, heroes and contemporaries to collaborate with them. That list included Confidence Man, who they discovered were St Et superfans after they played together at Kite Festival in 2022. Brand New Me feels like a rebooted 1991 gem – Nothing Can Stop Us meets Groove Is In The Heart – and features Sarah duetting with Confidence Man’s Janet Planet.
Other collaborators include Erol Alkan (on Sweet Melodies), Vince Clarke (Two Lovers), a duet with Nick Heyward (The Go Betweens) and Paul Hartnoll of Orbital (Take Me To The Pilot) as well as a brace co-written and produced with Tim Powell of Xenomania (Dancing Heart and He’s Gone).
The closing track on International is a tear jerker, reflecting on where they’ve been and who they’ve become over three and a half decades – the group say goodbye to their fans, on record, for the very Last Time.
Tracklisting
Glad
Dancing Heart
The Go Betweens
Sweet Melodies
Save It For A Rainy Day
Fade
Brand New Me
Take Me To The Pilot
Two Lovers
Why Are You Calling
He’s Gone
The Last Time
Saint Etienne are planning live dates for 2026, and International is released on 5 September via Heavenly Recordings. Pre-save here
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