The Night is the eleventh studio album by English pop-rock trio Saint Etienne. It was released on December 13, 2024, via Heavenly Recordings. Recording sessions took place across two locations in Saltaire and Hove from January to August 2024. Production was handled by the band itself in collaboration with composer and producer Gus Bousfield.
The Night was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 85 based on six reviews.[2] The aggregator AnyDecentMusic? has the critical consensus of the album at a 7.8 out of 10, based on ten reviews.[1]
Ljubinko Zivkovic of the Spill magazine praised the album, resuming: "it is thematic and specific and at the same time one of the most coherent efforts the trio has come up with so far".[8]AllMusic's Tim Sendra stated: "truly beautiful and moving ambient pop mini-triumph that's sad, nostalgic, and elegiac - with lovely vocals by Sarah Cracknell and brilliant production throughout".[3] John Williamson of Clash wrote: "introverted and understated but not underwhelming, The Night rewards repeated listens and while it is unlikely to provide the viral moment that returns Saint Etienne to their rightful place in the charts or troubles new audiences, it will more than satisfy the committed and may, with the benefit of an even longer lens, be among their greatest achievements".[4] Sandra Blemster of XS Noize called it "a lullaby for the modern age—best savoured before sleep, one delicate note at a time".[9] John Murphy of musicOMH concluded: "it may not be what you expect if you're a casual fan, but it's another intriguing little audio experiment from Wiggs, Stanley and Cracknell".[6] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of Financial Times summed up with: "lyrics convey impressions and fragmentary thoughts to evoke a state between waking and sleeping".[5]
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