TALES FROM THE TURNPIKE HOUSE
Saint Etienne


Short stories in light synth-pop, Saint Etienne's latest is appealingly cold. Cold in a distant, third person voice way. "Milk Bottle Symphony" with its airy la-la-las over breakfast preparation is pure contentment with predictability; the sing-song chorus is quitely claustrophobic. The thoughtful bossanova of "Side Streets" is deceptively smooth. Under the sheen lies a middle-class paranoia of getting mugged, getting downright dirty. And Tales from the Turnpike Down succeeds in its fragileness, in its refusal to crank up the volume even when fear and desperation thread the songs together. Now, that's genius. ****