In an age of re releases and reappraisals Saint Etienne have recently taken their bite of the cherry in the form of a series of Deluxe Edition versions of their back catalogue. Following on from a series of live shows last year and the ‘Foxbase Beta’ reworking that set the ball rolling we now move on to the 2001 release ‘Finisterre’.
Recorded in London, this was the trio’s sixth album and moved away from the sparse warmth of its predecessor ‘Sound Of Water’ into harder electronic territory. Each track is punctuated with Michael Jaydon’s sly interludes which provide a steely narrative between the songs.
The new liner notes describe the album as the cumulative representation of London from the perspective of the band members. The way I see it though, there’s a rather cool and businesslike thread running through the collection. It’s no bad thing either, the songs have a glacial majesty all of their own (Carcknell’s ice queen clipped delivery on ‘Amateur’ is the lyrical vocal/equivalent of being scammed and having your bank account cleaned out).
The musical backdrops for the songs are rarely less than frosted and even on the more organic pieces like ‘Language Lab’ and ‘Soft Like Me’ with their acoustic flavorings of guitars and flutes there’s still almost a knowing wink in the production that proclaims that synthesizers are the true heart of this collection. The acoustic interlude ends with ‘Stop And Think It Over’ armed with Bacharach pop stylings (an influence the band often wear on their sleeve) and then it’s back into the heart of the album’s ‘business district’ with the razor edged synth riff of ‘Shower Scene’ braced against a loping disco stride and Cracknell’s sweetly cooed vocal. From there on in the album’s aural textures become more agitated and abrasive with the instrumental ‘The Way We Live Now’ and brooding bassline of ‘New Thing’ right through to the light club cut feel of ‘B92’. The pace relents for the moody and almost dubby ‘The More You Know’ with a pitch black scowling bass and skittish drums sidling up against the lightly sugared vocals.
The album maintains all the qualities that made it so strong on the original release, aided and abetted by a remaster that does add a little polish and sheen to proceedings. The difference in the final mix is evident even on tinny speakers and it’s Cracknell’s vocals which seem to benefit the most getting a shove upfront.
The second disc contains seventeen (yes, count em) additional tracks that were came from the Finisterre sessions (or the neighboring time period). In this instance most of the material is either demo formats, alternative cuts or things that were destined for B side status. This is more for the die hard fan than the casual observer and you can see why most of the cuts didn’t make the grade, if anything it was because they didn’t have a stylistic fit that was compatible with the album the band were recording (in many cases the pieces have more in common with ‘Sound Of Water’. However there’s the odd highlight such as ‘Shock Corridor’ (which I’m sure became an actual B Side) and ‘There, There My Brigadier’ which was originally intended for a Doctor Who remix album. Definitely a high point with future retro sounds that paint it like something The Human League might have put out in their ‘Travelogue’ years.
Overall, I’m going to give this album winning status, not just because I was a fan of it the first time round but because it has stood the test of time. As pop albums go this one is probably overshadowed by a lot of the band’s earlier material and it really shouldn’t be the case. A worthy purchase and available from all the usual record emporiums now.
