Saint Etienne – Brand New Me
When two cult favorites come head-to-head to record a single together, you’d expect the results to be special – but “Brand New Me” is so much more than the sum of its parts. It’s a pumped-up cartoon of a pop record with hooks for days and the latest single to be taken from their forthcoming, and last, album, International, out this Friday, September 5 on Heavenly Recordings.
Saint Etienne first met their Heavenly label mates Confidence Man at Kite Festival back in 2022, and it was love at first sight. Confidence Man had been weaned on a diet of Saint Etienne and Vegemite whilst growing up in Australia, while Saint Etienne were genuinely dazzled by Confidence Man’s shiny, new, exciting cocktail of electro-pop hedonism. Plans were instantly hatched to work together, and the result is “Brand New Me”.
Sarah Cracknell and Janet Planet’s voices are a natural pairing, and when Sarah steps in for the spoken word parts, “Brand New Me” begins to feel like the lovechild “Nothing Can Stop Us” always hinted at.
Talking about the collaboration, Sarah of Saint Etienne said:
I got a message from Danny Mitchell at Heavenly Recordings, Saint Etienne’s spiritual home, about an Australian band they had signed called Confidence Man. Danny told me they were fans of our music and would love to meet and chat about a potential collaboration. We met backstage at a festival and immediately hit it off, kindred spirits! Making ‘Brand New Me’ was a lot of fun and I think it’s a perfect mash up of both our band’s styles.
The single is accompanied by a fantastic Hanna Barbera inspired video directed and animated by Kyle Platts and Matt Lloyd.
The single is available as a limited edition pink vinyl 12”s featuring the David Penn remix of “7 Ways To Love” which is available via the band’s store.
After 35 years recording together, Saint Etienne aren’t splitting up as such, they remain the best of friends but they’ve decided not to continue indefinitely, wanting instead to go out with a bang. Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs have known each other since childhood and formed Saint Etienne in 1990 with their iconic cover of Neil Young’s ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart.’ Sarah Cracknell joined for their third single, ‘Nothing Can Stop Us’, and their debut album Foxbase Alpha in 1991. Since then, the trio have expanded into films, books, and curation, including a residency at the Southbank Centre. Now, they feel it’s time to draw a line under new recordings.
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 Etienne super fans after they played together at Kite Festival in 2022).
You’ll hear other collaborators on “Sweet Melodies” (Erol Alkan), “Two Lovers” (Vince Clarke), “The Go Betweens” (a duet with Nick Heyward), “Take Me To The Pilot” (Paul Hartnoll of Orbital) and “Dancing Heart” and “He’s Gone”, a brace co-written and produced with Tim Powell of Xenomania.
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”.
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