Saint Etienne will release their 10th album, I’ve Been Trying To Tell You, on September 10 via Heavenly Records. (Bob Stanley told us it would be coming sooner than later and he was not kidding.) It's an unusual album for the trio, made remotely during lockdown and marking the first record they haven't made together in a studio. Working this time with film and TV composer Gus Bousfield. this the first sample-based album they've made since 1993's So Tough, and is their most tranquil, contemplative record since 2000's The Sound of Water. You can preorder it now.
The samples and sounds that make up the new album are almost entirely from 1997 - 2001, a period bookended by Labour's election victory in the UK and the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. “To me it’s about optimism, and the late nineties” Bob Stanley says, “and how memory is an unreliable narrator. Pete and Gus have done a properly amazing production job. I think it sounds gorgeous.” Pete Wiggs adds, “We've really pulled apart and dived deep into the samples; the concept and each of our interpretations of it have made this a very special sounding album, we hope you think so too."
The album comes with a companion film made by Alasdair McLellan (The xx, audiobooks) who also shot all the photos found on the album. “My starting point was an interpretation of my memories from the time I first started to listen to Saint Etienne’s music," says McLellan. "Of course, it is an interpretation of what I was doing then while looking back at it now. At that time, I was a bored teenager in a village near Doncaster, South Yorkshire; it was a place where very little happened. I now look back at that time as something quite idyllic – even the boredom seems idyllic – and a big part of its soundtrack was Saint Etienne.”
You can get a taste of the album and the film with first single "Pond House" that evokes the innocence, wonder and boredom of youth. Check that out, along with album art and tracklist, below.
The premiere of the I’ve Been Trying To Tell You film will be part of a retrospective of Saint Etienne's films -- including Paul Kelly's Finisterre, What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?, How We Used to Live and Lawrence of Belgravia (about Lawrence of Felt and Denim) -- at London's BFI Southbank on September 3-5 featuring Q&A with the band and filmmakers.
Saint Etienne will also be on tour in the UK in November. Those dates are listed below.
I’ve Been Trying To Tell You tracklist
1. Music Again
2. Pond House
3. Fonteyn
4. Little K
5. Blue Kite
6. I Remember It Well
7. Penlop
8. Broad River
Saint Etienne - November 2021 Tour Dates
18.11.21 - Glasgow, St Lukes
19.11.21 - Sunderland, to be announced
20.11.21- London, Alexandra Palace Theatre
23.11.21 - Bristol, Trinity
24.11.21 - Birmingham, Institute
25.11.21 - Saltaire, Victoria Hall
26.11.21 - Liverpool, Grand Central Hall
27.11.21- Hove, Old Market Tix
The Films Of Saint Etienne
presented by Sonic Cinema at BFI Southbank
03.09.21- I’ve Been Trying to Tell You (Premiere) + Q & A with Alasdair McLellan & Bob Stanley, NFT1
03.09.21- This Is Tomorrow + intro by Bob Stanley & Paul Kelly, NFT2
04.09.21- Asunder + intro by Esther Johnson & Bob Stanley, NFT2
04.09.21- Finisterre + Q & A with Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs, NFT 1
04.09.21- How We Used to Live + Q & A with Pete Wiggs & Travis Elborough, NFT1
05.09.21- Lawrence of Belgravia + Q & a with Paul Kelly & Lawrence, NFT1
05.09.21- What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day? + Q & A with Pete Wiggs & Paul Kelly, NFT1
05.09.21- Saint Etienne: Shorts Programme + intro by Paul Kelly & Pete Wiggs, NFT2
