Saint Etienne is an English band formed in 1990 by childhood friends Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, both musicians and journalists. The duo had the concept of fusing British pop music from the 1960s with elements of dance music. Initially, the two friends planned to use several vocalists. The first album, Foxbase Alpha (1991), features several vocalists, including Moira Lambert and Donna Savage. However, Sarah Cracknell remained the official vocalist, in addition to co-writing several of the band's songs.
Preceded by the single "You're in a Bad Way," Saint Etienne's second album, entitled So Tough, was released in 1993 and was well received by critics. The 1994 Tiger Bay album showed the group changing the direction of their music, seeking inspiration in folk music, combined with electronics. This change divided opinions, and Tiger Bay did not get the same acclaim as the previous record.
Following, Saint Etienne released the studio albums Good Humor (1998), Sound of Water (2000), Finisterre (2002) and Tales from Turnpike House (2005).
In 2012, after a seven-year break, the band returned with a new album, Words and Music by Saint Etienne. The ninth album, Home Counties, arrived in 2017. In 2021, the band released I've Been Trying to Tell You, an album that uses samples of songs by Natalie Imbruglia, The Lightning Seeds, Lighthouse Family, among others. The Night, a 2024 work, was defined by the band as an album with "three-dimensional sound, a soundtrack to listen to with headphones".
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