Red Kite comes eighteen years after Sarah Cracknell’s first solo album, 1997’s patchy Lipslide. The main difference this time round is that it feels like she has found her identity as a solo artist and has distinguished herself from the sound of her group.
Throughout Saint Etienne’s career they’ve became more and more pop. In the last ten years they’ve worked with Xenomania and Richard X and their last two albums were their most straight up pop albums yet. So as soon as Red Kite begins with acoustic guitars and a flute, it’s clear this album doesn’t follow the same pop route that Saint Etienne have been down recently.
Saint Etienne have come close to making an organic folk album before but they would still included some of the electronic tracks that would end up as singles. Tiger Bay and Sound Of Water are the most similar in feel to this album but they did include ‘Heart Failed (In The Back Of a Taxi)’ and ‘Like A Motorway’ as well. There aren’t any of those kind of songs here. That’s not to say Red Kite doesn’t have any big pop moments — there are plenty of 60s pop influences — just no 90s dance themes for which Saint Etienne are known. In fact, it sounds like Sarah has been listening to Nick Drake instead.
Lead single ‘Nothing Left To Talk About’ is a duet with Nicky Wire. It’s a cute country-esque pop song that seems like one of the more obvious picks for a single, but it’s far from the strongest song here. Nicky is on good form, and they have great chemistry together, but the tune is a bit too familiar. Much better is ‘Underneath The Stars’, which sounds like a Dusty Springfield song from her glorious ‘69-’73 soul years. The sadness Sarah conveys when she sings, “The stars in any place they shine, but not for you” in the chorus is really heart-breaking.
‘In The Dark’ and ‘Take The Silver’ both sound similar to Saint Etienne’s folkier moments, like ‘Former Lover’ and ‘Western Winds’ on 1994’s underrated Tiger Bay. These two songs feature gorgeous string arrangements (which are all over this album).
One of the highlights of Red Kite comes halfway through with the Motown-inspired ‘Hearts Are Breaking’. It’s a song about a love triangle, “You only wanted him because he wanted me”. Sarah sings the title in the chorus, which is followed by a gorgeous instrumental hook that was stuck in my head after just one play. If there was any chance this album was going to produce a hit single, this would be it.
‘I Am Not Your Enemy’ is the weakest moment on Red Kite. It’s a rockier song that was apparently influenced by Felt. It’s not that it’s a bad song, it just feels completely out of place on such a beautiful and mellow album. A lot of the stronger moments are the ballads like ‘I Close My Eyes’, which is a moving story about a woman taking a train ride and dreaming about what her life could be: “Then to thoughts of love and babies, in a world that’s fraught with maybes, never saw myself that way but you never know”.
Red Kite ends with ‘Favourite Chair’ — a short and sweet song that sounds like a lullaby: “Dream to sleep, mine to keep”. It shows Sarah still possesses one of the most beautiful voices in music and it’s a great ending to this lush and understated album.
Sarah once sang about moving to the countryside from the city on 2005’s ‘Relocate’, a duet with David Essex. She has apparently made that move in real life (albeit without David Essex). This change in lifestyle, along with recording in a barn in the countryside, has clearly influenced the album. The London themes that filled Saint Etienne’s songs are not present here. It makes a refreshing change.
Red Kite isn’t quite in the same league as the best Saint Etienne albums (Foxbase Alpha, So Tough and Tales From Turnpike House), but this is a huge improvement over Lipslide. She seems so much more confident and comfortable making this kind of record. It sounds like an album that’s made by someone who is happy with adult life and wants to reflect the beautiful things she has around her. Its release is perfectly timed for these early summer days.
