The long-running British pop outfit Saint Etienne have released what they apparently intend to be their final studio album, International. This track is a perfect example of how the group approaches their mixture of nostalgia and longing with an upbeat melodic piano house banger, albeit about a former relationship. It’s true, there’s some “keep on climbing” positivity here—which you may welcome—but this is no less another memorable moment of the kind of sublime melancholia they’ve always been so distinctively able to evoke.
Who are Saint Etienne?