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Nov 14, 2024 By Mark Redfern Photography by Paul Kelly

British indie-pop trio Saint Etienne have announced a new album,The Night, and shared its lead single, “Half Life.” The Night is due out December 13 via Heavenly. Check out “Half Life” below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover artwork.

The Night is intended to be an immersive album listened to in one sitting. A press release describes the album like so: “The Night delivers an ambient escape from the chaos of daily life, capturing the essence of the after-hours. The album takes listeners through layered tranquility, offering calm to restless minds and a gentle respite from modern life’s relentless pace.”

Saint Etienne produced The Night in collaboration with composer and producer Augustin Bousfield. They recorded it from January to August 2024 in two locations in Saltaire and Hove. The album follows 2021’s I’ve Been Trying to Tell You.

The band’s Pete Wiggs had this to say about the album in a press release: “It was great to all be in the same studio together again up at Gus’s in Bradford, we realized that it had been several years since we’d actually done that, sprawling out on the carpet, mugs of coffee in hand, sheets of lyrics and half ideas for titles lying around us.

“We wanted to continue the mellow and spacey mood of the last album, perhaps even double down on it, but it’s a very different album, not based on samples; songs, moods and spoken pieces drift in and out whilst rain pours down outside. It’s the kind of record I like to listen to in the dark or with my eyes closed.

“‘Half Light’ is about the edge of night, the last rays of the sun flickering through the branches of trees, communing with nature and seeing things that might not be there.”

Saint Etienne’s singer Sarah Cracknell says: “It was so good to be back in the studio together after recording the last album remotely. One of my favorite songs on the record is ‘Preflyte,’ it made me cry when I sang it for the first time.”

The band’s Bob Stanley adds: “We wanted The Night to be a calming album, warm and serene, but at the same time we wanted to create something gorgeous and dense.

“We were trying to find the state that’s between being awake and asleep, that dream space, with half forgotten thoughts drifting in, bits of TV dialogue, place names, streets, or football grounds you’ve never even been to. You feel very receptive to sound and half-covered memories when you’re in that state.

“Rain noise runs right through it. It was designed to gently wash away the stuff in your head that keeps you awake at 2am.

“I think The Night sounds really three-dimensional. A lot of that is down to Gus Bousfield who played the guitars and did a wonderful production job. Recording it in his studio, with so much light and space, has helped to shape it too. The three of us brought in our own songs, but lyrically we were all in tune with each other without having to swap notes first.

“You could think of it as one continuous, single track. It’s definitely a headphone album.”

Read our 2017 print magazine interview with Saint Etienne.

Read our 2017 extended Q&A with Saint Etienne.

The Night Tracklist:

1. Settle In
2. Half Light
3. Through The Glass
4. Nightingale
5. Northern Counties East
6. Ellar Carr
7. When You Were Young
8. No Rush
9. Gold
10. Celestial
11. Preflyte
12. Wonderlight
13. Hear My Heart
14. Alone Together

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