Saint Etienne - Finisterre
(Mantra)
A band that refuses to die, I thought they had disbanded after Sarah Cracknell started releasing solo albums (1997s Lipslide and 2000s Kelly's Locker, both on Instinct). But here they are, back with their eighth proper release (there are over a dozen remix and greatest hits compilations) and it's more of the same: delicious, 80s-styled, electronic disco, a la Pet Shop Boys ("Action"), Human League ("Amateur"), Abba-meets-the-Spice Girls ("Soft Like Me," featuring Wildflower), New Order ("Shower Scene"), Trans-X (remember "Living On Video"? It gets a new life here as "New Thing") all delivered in that luscious Cracknell voice, smooth as velvet... like a reincarnated Karen Carpenter. It's all a veritable night on the town at Studio 54 with dancing divas, mystic shivas, nose candy, balling in the bathrooms, bright lights, disco mirror balls, etc.
Nevermind that "Language Lab" seems more suited for that after hours chill out room (or an Ennio Morricone love scene) or that "The More You Know" tries to be both The Cure and Joy Division at the same time, and by all means, please ignore the pretentious spoken word ramblings of Sarah Churchill on the title track (which manages to namedrop Donovan, Barrett, AND Bauhaus!?) and the between-track bon mots delivered like pronouncements from God (or the Moody Blues) and just lay back and groove, baby, groove.
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