In 2011, Saint Etienne went into the studio. They spent three months playing and recording with
people they had worked with over the years: long-time collaborator Ian Catt, KLF & Sugababes
producer (and one time Rubette) Nick Coler, Girls Aloud lynchpin Tim Powell, and their newest firm friend and partner in crime, Richard X. They took the spirits of high disco, metallic house,
Brill Building pop. They took the preset rhythm, the sampler, the fireside warmth of a string
quartet, the strange and important sound of the synthesiser. They took song titles that said much
about pop things they have loved: Popular, Answer Song, I Threw It All Away. They jumped, faster
than before, into that racing green MG, put their foot on the accelerator, and took to the streets.
Saint Etienne are back this year to remind us about what matters. That the magic of the charts, of
Top Of The Pops, was - and still is - about reality, as well as fantasy. That pop can take everyday
lives and make each moment sing. And that it is there for older people, younger people, all people,
wherever their bedroom, their music, and their memories may be. Any time, anywhere, and for
anyone.
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