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The Night Image
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: The latest full-length release from British trio Saint Etienne continues the mood and sounds heard in 2021's I've Been Trying To Tell You and was produced with Augustin Bousfield.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 11
  2. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Record Collector
    Jan 24, 2025
    100
    Just when you're thinking Saint Etienne can't possibly maintain such high standards after three decades, The Night begins to turn your head around. [Feb 2025, p.105]
  2. Dec 13, 2024
    90
    If made by a group other than them, might have topped year end list made by serious music publications. As it is, the record will likely exist as a lost treasure to be excavated years down the road to be loved and emulated. Saint Etienne have more than their share of great albums over the years, chalk this up as one of the best and proof that the band have become more than just a brilliant pop act.
  3. Dec 12, 2024
    80
    By deconstructing their identity, Saint Etienne have created a coherent sequence of remarkable songs which sound like everything else they have done and nothing else, at the same time. It is a very impressive achievement.
  4. Uncut
    Dec 12, 2024
    80
    If you've ever swooned for the fading-light pastorals of Billie Ray Martin's 4 Ambient Tales, or the elliptical whispers of Stina Nordenstam, this album will feel very comfortable indeed. [Jan 2025, p.40]
  5. The Wire
    Feb 4, 2025
    80
    Closing track “Alone Together” is the exception, with its laidback 70s groove. Otherwise there is a rich sense of eerie detachment, more Eno than disco. Not a desolate one but a widescreen richness of field recordings, sweetly echoing synth tones, spoken word interludes, plaintive wheepling of birds and clarinets, ghostly acousmatic sounds and layered vocal harmonies. [Mar 2025, p.46]
  6. Dec 19, 2024
    72
    The Night is frequently cold and lonely, but Saint Etienne make for invaluable company.
  7. Jan 22, 2025
    50
    The Night has quite a bit going for it, including the meticulous arrangements and sound design, as well as the weight of Saint Etienne’s rich catalog and their status as respected elder statesmen of sophisticated pop music. Even so, The Night sounds uncharacteristically forced, ultimately collapsing under the weight of its own pretension.

See all 11 Critic Reviews