Saint Etienne - 'Action' (Mantra)
2/5
By: Thomas Hannan
Credit where credit is due. Where their peers are now residing in pop's nether-regions or appearing on any godawful reality TV-show that will have them, Saint Etienne have hung on for dear life to come back with 'Action', their first single in over a year.
Sadly, though 'Action' doesn't quite live up to past glories. Where it needs to be brilliant, it instead is simply adequate and not the slap in the face that people need to remind them further of the group's existence.
So, what we get is a very typical Saint Etienne song - Sarah Cracknell's sweet, dreamy vocals over poppy, ambient electronica, the result at times sounding very similar to Christina Aguilera's 'Genie In A Bottle' (the vocals in the bridge seemingly being poached straight from the 'big-haired' one's debut-hit). Consequentially, the effect is their sound proving ever so slightly tired - something almost forgivable when you remember that this is a group which has been around since 1988. But herein perhaps lays their problem. Newer acts around these days possess no trouble connecting with the pop-buying public, but Saint Etienne are trying to appeal to the same age-group they did all those years ago, ignoring the fact that those record buyers are now twelve years older.
Tough, because 'Action' is a likeable piece of work - yet one which ends up like grown-ups playing a children's game, where - pretty soon - the kids have to wonder what exactly they're doing.
Artists in this article: Saint Etienne
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