Bleep

Heavenly are setting the Saint Etienne catalogue to wax once more, so what better time to (re)acquaint yourself with one of the most erstwhile and loveable pop groups the UK has produced. Sound of Water, the group’s fifth LP, originally dropped in 2000. Indulging the latent ambient and trip-hop tendencies at play in their previous work, Sarah Cracknell’s playful singing here comes backed with soft keys and pitter-patter drum machines. It makes for delightful listening on the likes of ‘Sycamore’ and ‘Downey CA’, numbers which bring to mind Brigitte Bardot if she had Lemon Jelly as her backing band. It’s not all soft chansons, though - ‘Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi)’, like so many of their great singles, channels Blondie and Pulp to brilliant effect.