Saint Etienne return with The Night, a mesmerizing follow-up to 2021’s I’ve Been Trying to Tell You, transporting listeners into a dreamlike realm of cinematic soundscapes and hypnotic spoken-word interludes. The album feels like a journey through the twilight hours, where trickling rain, ethereal reverb, and soothing synth arpeggios form a lush, meditative backdrop.
Bob Stanley, reflecting on the creative vision, describes the album as an exploration of the liminal space between wakefulness and sleep—a “dream space” where fragmented memories, stray thoughts, and imagined places blur together. It’s a sonic diary of half-forgotten streets, phantom football grounds, and snippets of TV dialogue that drift into focus like hazy recollections.
With The Night, Saint Etienne masterfully evoke the surreal and the intimate, crafting an experience that feels as personal as it is otherworldly. It’s an album for introspective nights, where the boundaries between reality and imagination dissolve. A beautiful, immersive offering from a band still at the top of their game.