Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne: 'We thought we were making future music — it was quite nostalgic'

From Soho’s 60s glamour to 90s indie dance floors, Sarah Cracknell reflects on Saint Etienne’s final chapter and a new generation finding their music

Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell

Saint Etienne became defined by a string of hits that captured the melancholic indie dance pop of the 1990s. Their output ranged from the Northern Soul-infused Nothing Can Stop Us to their era-defining cover of Neil Young’s Only Love Can Break Your Heart.

Perhaps their most ubiquitous hit was the dance-floor anthem He's On The Phone, which began as a collaboration with ‘the prince of French Pop’ Étienne Daho. 

Far from resting on their laurels, the band have recently produced some of their most ambitious work. For instance, their penultimate record The Night (2024) offered a nocturnal ambient soundscape, followed last year by the more clubby energy of their 12th and final studio release International.

Those latter records embrace the broader European identity that served the band well for three decades. Recalling her entry into Saint Etienne, vocalist Sarah Cracknell explains, from her "leafy Oxfordshire" home, how she was originally just a fan of the band.

“I was very aware of them. I bought Only Love Can Break Your Heart, which I loved,” she recalls. The Neil Young cover provided an indie-dance crossover hit in 1990, sung by Moira Lambert. When founders Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs invited Cracknell to record Nothing Can Stop Us, they found an immediate creative synchronicity. 

“We had so many of the same reference points. Bands we liked growing up, films, TV and aesthetic stuff. It was just a match made in heaven. There wasn't anything that didn't align,” recalls Cracknell.

That shared vision led to a writing style that was strangely atmospheric and often beguiling at a time when pop culture was less fragmented. They crossed over from indie into pop and dance when those boundaries and subcultures were still rigid.

“We thought we were making future music,” she reflects, “but it turned out it was quite nostalgic in a way."

For a band fascinated by television and pop culture, it made sense they should become the first ever act to be broadcast during Channel 4's Glastonbury coverage in 1994. There were also several memorable appearances on Top of the Pops. "It was like being on a rollercoaster. Glastonbury, Top of the Pops, and clubbing all at the same time, it was totally mind-boggling."

Saint Etienne found an audience that instinctively understood what they were trying to do. "We were fans before we were in a band, so we always took great care with our artwork and sleeve notes because we knew that joy of poring over a tangible record. Back then, you found out about music by sitting in the pub or reading the NME, not through social media. It was a brilliant time."

Cracknell, 61, was born into a world of 1960s glamour and storytelling. Her mother, Julie Samuel, was an actress who frequented the Soho scene, appearing alongside Gerry and the Pacemakers in the 1965 film Ferry Cross the Mersey.

"She went to school in Soho and would go to the 2i's Coffee Bar," explains Cracknell in reference to the legendary Old Compton Street venue. "She was very much in the scene and in demand for a while… and then she got pregnant with me and I ruined everything," she says, laughing.

Her father, Derek Cracknell, was first assistant director to Stanley Kubrick, working on films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey. She shares a family story from the set of A Clockwork Orange regarding Kubrick’s notorious intensity and a clash over tea breaks. 

“Stanley suddenly said, 'Well, we're going to work into the night now, and I want lights coming in the windows, because it's night for day kind of thing.' My dad said, 'It's on the 11th floor. What are you talking about?'” 

Saint Etienne: Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs.

After Kubrick told him to “Piss off”, Derek Cracknell walked off the set. The fallout resulted in a letter from Kubrick. “He wrote this letter which my mum still has. It says, 'Dear Derek, I'm so sorry. I thought 'piss off' was like a friendly term of endearment. I didn't realise it was rude.' The letter is genius... it's a piece of history.” 

As well as a September gig in Dublin, Saint Etienne have been busy performing farewell shows throughout the UK and Europe. Cracknell is clear about the decision to close this chapter while the group’s legacy is intact. 

“I just thought it'd be great to go out with a bang. I loved the fact that a band has a beginning and an end and they don't just keep dribbling on for ages. I wanted the beginning and the end to be really strong."

Part of the decision is about preserving the quality of their live performance. “My voice is standing up now. It's good, I'm really proud of the live shows and the way I'm singing,” she says, while acknowledging a desire to avoid the pitfalls of ageing in the industry. “So many singers should stop. They get up and you go, 'Oh, that's not your voice, it just doesn't sound the same.' I would never want that.”

Though she admits she is unsure of her next steps, she looks forward to preserving the friendships that have grown from the band. “One of the things we've talked about is how it'll be really nice to just hang out and not talk about the band. Just be on a friendship level.”

Perhaps nothing illustrates the crossover between 1990s indie and wider football culture better than the enduring image of Cracknell in a Republic of Ireland kit ahead of the 1994 World Cup for Vox magazine. At the time, the choice sparked curiosity regarding her sporting allegiances, but Cracknell admits the motivation was far more aesthetic.

Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne in Vox magazine in 1994 wearing a Republic of Ireland kit.

“I think it was a lot to do with that I liked the kit. I remember I had really inappropriate footwear on. They looked like trainers, but they had a little heel on them and I was doing keepy-uppies with the ball with my knee and nearly fell over a number of times because I didn't have the right footwear on. I think it was a lot to do with the way it looked. It's not dissimilar colours to the Saint Etienne kit.” 

The details of that shoot remained a slight blur until Martin Kelly, the band’s long-time manager at Heavenly Management and Cracknell’s husband, revealed the photographer was Irish snapper Mary Scanlon, who brought the kit to the session.

Saint Etienne have played in Ireland on a handful of occasions. This final farewell tour will allow many fans to see them for the first time. "We haven't played there nearly enough," admits Cracknell. "We played Belfast and Dublin in the early ’90s. We generally play where people ask for us, and because these are our farewell shows, there’s suddenly a lot of demand. People think we’re lying about it being the end, but once it’s over, it’s over. It might drift into early 2028 with festivals or trips to Europe and South America, but that will be it."

Just as many 1990s bands found inspiration in the 1960s, today a new generation is discovering that decade for themselves. Even Cracknell's son has been spotted wearing a Saint Etienne tee-shirt. "It's funny actually, because I think my kids were always a bit embarrassed about what I do. Although, I saw one of them in a Saint Etienne tee-shirt, and I thought, oh, hello, not so embarrassing now, the ’90s are back, aren't they?

"I'm seeing a lot of younger people in the audience, which is great. It's like when I was in my teens and early 20s, I was very much about the 60s. It's a similar thing, it's just what you think's cool, and I thought the 60s were really cool. Of course, my mum thought it wasn't that cool because she was there. It's just things come in cycles, don't they?"

• Saint Etienne’s farewell tour arrives at Olympia Theatre, Dublin, on Tuesday, September 22