And so TUNES RECOVERY PROJECT comes to a close. Tune in on Monday, when our year-end shenanigans (and oh my, are they ever shenaniganny) begin…
[Video][Website]
[6.60]
Martin Skidmore: The one new track on their Best Of album, and it’s written and produced by Richard X. They’re a good fit, unsurprisingly, and I’ve always liked Sarah Cracknell’s voice. It also has a perky tune, and is generally thoroughly enjoyable. I don’t see it taking a place alongside their greatest moments, but it’s one of the best new tracks on best ofs that I can recall.
[8]
Alex Macpherson: By now, it’s only to be expected that Saint Etienne are capable of providing pretty electropop sounds on autopilot. Sadly, the song also seems to have been written on autopilot, and Sarah Cracknell sings it as though doing tedious data entry work.
[4]
Rodney J. Greene: Ethereal, somewhat featureless Euro-pop long on poise and short on brass ovaries. Seems to be about sex, but also afraid of bodily fluids. Forgive me if I prefer pop stars who can get a bit undignified at times.
[5]
Mallory O’Donnell: Generic well-produced handbag house with a little too much vocal. I don’t know why I always expect more from Saint Etienne when I am always, always disappointed.
[4]
Ian Mathers: Not only do they not cover the Hall & Oates chestnut (the way they did Neil Young), but Saint Etienne’s “Method of Modern Love” might actually be as good as its namesake. The compact synth burble of the music and that wide-open chorus would both be okay on their own, but married together I could comfortably listen to this for a few hours on repeat.
[8]
Keane Tzong: Had I reviewed this when it was released, I probably would have underrated it: Richard X sparkle production, Sarah Cracknell vocal, ho-hum, play it out and leave it to rot in my iTunes forever. But this has proved surprisingly sturdy over the course of this year, revealing itself to be much more like Richard X’s best productions than his more pedestrian ones. That’s all down to its lightness — “Method” benefits tremendously from a surprisingly deft touch on both the part of its producer and its performer. I suppose some might consider it faint praise to say that this makes other dance tracks of a similar nature (see: Kylie’s “The One”) seem leaden and dull by comparison, but that’s all I’ve got to recommend my favorite single of the year, somehow.
[10]
Edward Okulicz: Richard X’s best song in ages, and St Etienne’s too — he’s always worked best with technically limited but expressive women, and Sarah Cracknell is in full “angel of suburbia” mode here. She dispenses words of wisdom to keep your head spinning out of control with your heart while the music — galloping, thrilling electropop — does the opposite, sounding like falling helplessly head over heels. The hooks come thick and fast — both with the wearily wise lyrics and the “whoa whoa whoa” parts — and it’s like the great post-Come And Get It Rachel Stevens single some of us prayed for.
[10]
Martin Kavka: The Jukebox began its new life with a whole bunch of tepid 7’s and 8’s to Pet Shop Boys’ “Love Etc.” It would be fitting for it to end its first calendar year on the same note. For on paper, the marriage of Saint Etienne and Richard X seems ideal. But there’s so much shine that the song is always on the verge of becoming a repulsive ray of blinding light; everything is so sparkly, and everything seems buried in the mix. And after listening to this for an entire year, I still can’t figure out whether the lyrics of the verses are further expressions of how modern love goes, or their dreamy Romantic critique of modern love’s opportunism and cheapness. Still, I dance to this song in my office somewhat regularly.
[7]
Additional Scores
Matt Cibula: [4]
Chuck Eddy: [6]