Album of the week

Nostalgia might not be what it used to be!

London trio Saint Etienne return with their 10th studio release, I’ve Been Trying To Tell You – an album about optimism, youth and the late nineties.

It is accompanied by a film by the same name directed by acclaimed photographer Alasdair McLellan.

Thirty years on from their groundbreaking debut Foxbase Alpha, the trio Saint Etienne trailled the album with Pond House – an evocative collision of undulating beats and samples.

The album was made largely from samples and sounds drawn from the years 19972001, a period that was topped and tailed by Labour’s election victory and the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. For the first time, the band didn’t record together in a studio. The album was completed remotely, in Hove (Pete Wiggs), Oxford (Sarah Cracknell) and Bradford (Bob Stanley), in collaboration with film and TV composer Gus Bousfield, who contributed to two songs on the album.

“To me it’s about optimism, and the late nineties” Bob explains, “and how memory is an unreliable narrator.” Sarah added: “It’s the first sample driven album we’ve made since So Tough and it’s been a really refreshing experience, such fun! It’s both dreamy and atmospheric, late summer sounds.”

It’s nostalgic, dreamy and quite lovely. A wonderful, if understated, album.

To be in with a chance of winning this album answer this question:

What was the band’s last album called?

Answers to: St Etienne competition, nigel.thornton@jpimedia.co.uk by September 24.

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