By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Tracklist: Glad; Dancing Heart; The Go Betweens; Sweet Melodies; Save It For A Rainy Day; Fade; Brand New Me; Take Me To The Pilot; Two Lovers; Why Are You Calling; He’s Gone; The Last Time

What do Haircut 100’s Nick Heyward, Yazoo’s Vince Clarke, Xenomania’s Tim Powell, Erol Alkan, Chemical Brothers and Orbital have in common?

• Read on for reasons including how this is the final Saint Etienne album

They all contribute in some form to Saint Etienne’s final and fine album International.

Lead single Glad (watch and listen below) was a song of the week for us in June and we called it: ‘Saint Etienne’s best single since their 2012 run of Tonight and I’ve Got Your Music finds them collaborating with the Chemical Brothers and returning to the dancefloor with a bang.’

2012’s album career highpoint Words And Music saw Saint Etienne play a fabulous gig at the London Palladium and was produced by Xenomania’s Tim Powell who returns to helm this album.

Former Haircut 100 frontman Nick Heyward appears on The Go Betweens and it’s a co-write which plays to both sides producing memorable pop, is more keyboards-based than you might be expecting and a call-and-response joy of which each party should be proud.

Vince Clarke has written for Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure and collaboration Two Lovers is an electro stormer with real pace and propulsion which concentrates lyrically on a doomed couple.

The main image above is taken from the cartoon video for current single Brand New Me (see immediately above) with more contemporary partners in crime Confidence Man whose imagery evokes for us the early 80s cartoon imagery of ABC’s best line-up.

2nd single Take Me To The Pilot (watch and listen below) sees Saint Etienne go full throttle dance with the video playfully adopting the titular International concept of the band which should’ve been obvious from the start given its named after a French football team even if it did enjoy its 1st flirtation with fame during Britpop.

It’s been thrilling to see the predictable mass nostalgia generated by the stadium Oasis tour currently underway offering no new music to enhance the band’s legacy sparking creative rushes in contemporaries including Suede, The Divine Comedy and Saint Etienne here.

Other contributors here include Erol Alkan, Chemical Brothers, Orbital, Doves through to the lesser known, but equally exhilarating Bradfordians Augustin Bousfield and Flash Cassette.

Always good for the ‘dandy highwaymen’ to go out on a high and Powell brings a fantastically exhilerating pop sensibility from the band and we hope to say thank you to them at a final gig before the shutters are drawn down on what has been a thrilling ride of a pop career.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Saint Etienne Tickets
• Have you seen a Saint Etienne show before and what did you think of this album? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this preview? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook