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Sound of Water
Studio album by Saint Etienne
Released	22 June 2000
Length	42:45
Label	Sub Pop Mantra Heavenly
Producer	Saint Etienne, Gerard Johnson
Saint Etienne chronology
Built on Sand (1999) Sound of Water (2000) Interlude (2001)
Singles from Sound of Water
"How We Used to Live" Released: 2000 "Heart Failed (In the Back of a Taxi)" Released: 2000 "Boy Is Crying" Released: 2001

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Entertainment Weekly	A−
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
NME	7/10
Pitchfork	7.7/10 (2000) 7.0/10 (2009)
Q
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Select	4/5
Spin	8/10

Sound of Water is the fifth studio album by Saint Etienne, released in 2000.

Background

It was developed as Saint Etienne's ambient and trip hop statement.

The album's lead single was "How We Used to Live," which was not edited down from its 9-minute running length for single release.

Their previous US release Places to Visit was clearly the beginning of this new direction. Many of the artists with whom they collaborated on that EP are present on Sound of Water.

During the group's tenure with Sub Pop (1998–2005), Saint Etienne released many albums. Places to Visit preceded Sound of Water. In turn, the label released Interlude a year afterwards. Interlude is an album of mostly b-sides from the Sound of Water singles, as well as a couple from the Good Humor era.

The album is one of the few releases on which the band did not collaborate with Ian Catt in some way. The album was co-produced by Gerard Johnson and had arrangements by To Rococo Rot and Sean O'Hagan. It was recorded at To Rococo Rot's studio, Amber Sound, in Berlin, Germany. The band have described the recording sessions as 'working in an airless, windowless oven'.

"The Place at Dawn" contains a sample of Magna Carta's "Medley", from the 1970 album Seasons.

Reissue

Sound of Water was remastered and reissued as part of Heavenly Recordings/Universal's deluxe editions of the band's recordings on 31 August 2009 (2009-08-31). The same deluxe edition was released in the United States on 30 June 2017 by PIAS Recordings. The new release features b-sides, unreleased tracks and the entire Places to Visit EP, which was previously only released in the United States and Germany.

Artwork

The album and singles artwork were all designed by Julian Opie.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Cracknell, Stanley and Wiggs except where indicated

Notes

Due to a mastering error on the 2009 deluxe edition of the album, the song "Blofeld Buildings" is longer than the original version featured on the fan-club compilation Built on Sand. The same song starts playing again at the 1:32 mark, which makes the whole track end at 6:11. The 2017 reissue of the release corrected this flaw.

Credits

Saint Etienne is:

• Sarah Cracknell
• Bob Stanley
• Pete Wiggs

Augmented by:

• Gerard Johnson
• Robert Lippok
• Ronald Lippok
• Sean O'Hagan
• Stefan Schneider

B-sides

From "How We Used to Live"

• "Roseneck"
• "Red Setter" (An alternative version of the 12" exists with a 4:25 instrumental version of "Red Setter").
• "How We Used to Live" (Although it is not described as such, the 8:56 version on this single appears to have been remixed slightly)
• "How We Used to Live (Dot Allison Mix)"
• "How We Used to Live (Aim Mix)"

From "Heart Failed (In the Back of a Taxi)"

• "Thank You"
• "Bar Conscience"
• "Heart Failed (In the Back of a Taxi) (Two Lone Swordsmen Mix)"
• "Heart Failed (In the Back of a Taxi) (Futureshock Vocal Mix)"
• "Heart Failed (In the Back of a Taxi) (Bridge & Tunnel Mix)"

From "Boy Is Crying"

• "Boy Is Crying (Single Mix)" (Remixed by Lee Mullin and Mike Truman)
• "Northwestern"
• "Shoot Out the Lights"
• "Boy Is Crying (Hybrid Mix)"
• "Northwestern (SI-Cut, DB Mix)"
• "How We Used to Live (Paul van Dyk Mix)"

Charts

References

1. "Reviews for Sound of Water by Saint Etienne". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Sound of Water – Saint Etienne". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
3. Hermes, Will (9 June 2000). "Sound of Water". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 18 July 2001. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
4. Sullivan, Caroline (19 May 2000). "Saint Etienne: Sound of Water (Mantra)". The Guardian.
5. Lechner, Ernesto (21 July 2000). "Saint Etienne, 'Sound of Water,' Sub Pop". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
6. Pattison, Louis (22 May 2000). "Saint Etienne – Sound of Water". NME. Archived from the original on 21 June 2000. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
7. Hooker, Zach (22 June 2000). "Saint Etienne: Sound of Water". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
8. Harvell, Jess (17 September 2009). "Saint Etienne: So Tough / Sound of Water". Pitchfork. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
9. "Saint Etienne: Sound of Water". Q. No. 166. July 2000. pp. 123–24.
10. Berger, Arion (2004). "Saint Etienne". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 713–14. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
11. Grundy, Gareth (June 2000). "Saint Etienne: Sound of Water". Select. No. 120.
12. Walters, Barry (September 2000). "Saint Etienne: Sound of Water". Spin. Vol. 16, no. 9. p. 92. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
13. Forum Discussion
14. "Response from ARIA re: Saint Etienne chart history inquiry, received 20 September 2017". Retrieved 9 February 2022 – via Imgur. The "High Point" number displayed in the "NAT" column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
15. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 17, no. 24. 10 June 2000. p. 12. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
16. "Norwegiancharts.com – Saint Etienne – Finisterre". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
17. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
18. "Swedishcharts.com – Saint Etienne – Finisterre". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
20. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
21. "Saint Etienne Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 February 2022.

• 2000 albums
• Saint Etienne (band) albums
• Sub Pop albums