SAINT ETIENNE feat. WILDFLOWER – “Soft Like Me”
I feel a bit bad for giving “Action” a slagging here the other week – it does do an adequate job of leading off Finisterre but the real highpoints come later in the disc, for instance this, surely a single in a sane world, maybe a hit in a lucky one. It’s heartening to know that Saint Etienne can still get it absolutely right, even if it’s only once per LP these days. The rest of the album in question is good, yeah even very good, a state-of-the-capital address from one of the great London groups, but this is special: balmy and fresh, more municipal park than high-rise, a little bit of Spring as we hunker down for Autumn. Wildflower’s guest spot on the Skitz album was a highlight of last year and on “Soft Like Me” she delivers more of the same straight-talking stuff: here she’s bringing her kids up sensitive and raising her eyebrows at hardmen who can’t cope with heartbreak. Call it twee-hop if you like – leave out the breakbeat and the flutey backing could be Belle And Sebastian – but it integrates, it works, it’s delightful.