Saint Etienne The Night
Saint Etienne's The Night arrives as a nocturnal, cinematic meditation that foregrounds ambient exploration and intimate songwriting, and critics largely agree it succeeds when it leans into restraint. Across reviews, the record earned a 75/100 consensus score from eight professional reviews, a mark that frames it as a rewarding, if occasionally elusive, late-night experience. Critics repeatedly single out “Preflyte”, “Half Light” and “Settle In” as standout tracks that crystallize the album's hush and emotional clarity.
The critical consensus emphasizes mood over immediate hooks: reviewers praise the album's minimal percussion, soothing ambient textures and night-focused imagery - rain, dreams and memory - which create cohesive, cinematic soundscapes. Praise centers on Sarah Cracknell's grainy, intimate vocal moments, with “Half Light” and “Through The Glass” cited for their delicate melodies and evocative production. Several critics frame the collection as a concept album about nocturnal reflection, parenthood and middle-aged perspective, noting how tracks like “Hear My Heart” and “Nightingale” act as consoling vignettes amid the record's sleepwalking atmosphere.
Not all reviewers are unequivocal: some find the project occasionally self-indulgent or more like an exercise in ambience than a sequence of distinct songs, with highlights feeling like glimpses amid long washes of sound. Still, the prevailing view from professional reviews is that The Night rewards repeated, close listening; its strengths are cohesion, understated elegance and a handful of quietly essential songs that anchor the album's nocturnal vision. For readers asking whether The Night is worth listening to, critics suggest the payoff lies in seeking out its best songs and letting the record's late-night moods unfold.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Preflyte
7 mentions
"Cracknell has never sung better than on ‘Preflyte’"— Clash Music
Half Light
7 mentions
"the sub two-minute single, ‘Half Light’"— Clash Music
Settle In
5 mentions
"‘Settle In’ is a sort of encapsulation of Saint Etienne’s early career"— The Quietus
Cracknell has never sung better than on ‘Preflyte’
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Settle In
Half Light
Through The Glass
Nightingale
Northern Counties East
Ellar Carr
When You Were Young
No Rush
Gold
Celestial
Preflyte
Wonderlight
Hear My Heart
Alone Together
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 10 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Saint Etienne have long trafficked in wistful atmospherics, and on The Night the best songs - notably “Half Light” and “No Rush” - crystallize that moody, reverb-soaked ambition. John Bergstrom writes with the same tempered impatience he brings to their catalog, praising the delicate, jazzy melody of “Half Light” while noting how “No Rush” summons a quasi-religious grandeur. Yet he insists the album too often reads as a genre exercise rather than a set of songs, so the highlights feel like glimpses amid a long, occasionally dull night. The result is an album whose strongest tracks prove the concept, even as the whole sometimes collapses under its own pretension.
Key Points
-
“Half Light” is best because its delicate, jazzy melody feels single-worthy despite brevity.
-
The album's core strengths are meticulous arrangements, cinematic ambience, and evocative nighttime atmosphere.
Themes
Critic's Take
There is a weary curiosity running through Saint Etienne's The Night, where the best songs - “Half Light”, “Gold”, and “Hear My Heart” - find the trio probing ambient textures with surprising warmth. Brandon Miller writes with the same steady observation that colors the review, noting how “Half Light” sparkles with twinkling synths while “Gold” becomes an unexpected delight thanks to its vocal melody and clarinet. The record often prefers mood and gradual movement over payoff, so the strongest tracks stand out by delivering small melodic rewards amid long washes of sound. Overall, the album reads as an experiment in reinvention that still yields genuine moments worth seeking out for listeners asking "what are the best tracks on The Night".
Key Points
-
“Half Light” is the best song because its twinkling synths and deep swells make it the record’s most immediate and sparkling moment.
-
The album’s core strength is ambient reinvention, creating reflective moods and occasional melodic rewards amidst long washes of sound.
Themes
Critic's Take
Saint Etienne’s The Night finds its best songs in quiet, nocturnal sketches like “Half Light” and “Through The Glass”, where smoky synths and detuned guitars conjure otherworldly memory. The record’s standout moments turn on Sarah Cracknell’s grainy intimacy - she catches glimpses of a younger self and accepts limits with brittle beauty on “Nightingale” and “Wonderlight”. The album favors atmosphere over uplift, so the best tracks reward patience and close listening rather than instant hooks. Overall, the best songs on The Night are those that let the ambient fog clear just enough for Cracknell’s voice to register real feeling.
Key Points
-
The best song(s) are intimate, nocturnal pieces like "Half Light" that pair Cracknell’s grainy voice with eerie ambient production.
-
The album’s core strengths are its evocative nighttime atmosphere, detailed sound design, and thematic focus on memory and acceptance.
Themes
Critic's Take
In his quietly admiring tone Martin Gray presents Saint Etienne's The Night as a nocturnal balm, highlighting the best songs such as “Settle In” and “Preflyte” as standout moments that soothe and linger. He repeatedly praises the album's sleep-inducing soundscapes and the way tracks like “Half Light” and “Gold” flow into one another, creating a cohesive late-night journey. The reviewer’s calm, descriptive voice makes it clear why listeners seeking the best songs on The Night will gravitate to these intimate, emotive highlights. Overall, Gray frames the album as a quietly sublime and restorative experience that rewards repeated plays.
Key Points
-
Preflyte is the best song because it is called the 'undisputed album highlight' and delivers powerful, emotive vocals.
-
The album's core strengths are its cohesive nocturnal atmosphere, soothing textures, and careful use of sparse instrumentation to induce calm.
Themes
Critic's Take
Saint Etienne's The Night is a downbeat, beautiful late-night record that rewards repeat plays, and the reviewer keeps landing on the tenderness of “Preflyte” and “Nightingale”. John Williamson writes in a measured, authoritative tone that privileges the album's sum over its parts, yet he cannot help flagging highlights like “Gold” and the brief “Half Light” as particular moments of grace. The voice is reflective and slightly nostalgic, noting middle-aged comforts and anxieties rather than youthful hedonism, which helps explain why the best songs - notably “Preflyte” and “Nightingale” - feel so affecting.
Key Points
-
The best song is best because Cracknell's vocals are at their peak on “Preflyte” and “Nightingale”.
-
The album's core strengths are its downbeat beauty, mood-music textures, and understated, English sensibility.
Themes
Critic's Take
The long-awaited Saint Etienne return on The Night finds them at their most assured and nocturnal, the trio threading subtle, hushed electro-pop through 14 tracks. The reviewer hears a faultless, thematic record that treats night-time motifs seriously rather than as mere ambience. Highlights like “Settle In” and “Through The Glass” emerge as best songs on The Night, exemplifying the band’s recognizable, personal sound. Overall this is one of their most coherent efforts, moving forward while retaining the familiar Saint Etienne touch.
Key Points
-
The best song(s) stand out because they crystallize the album’s subtle, hushed electro-pop and coherent nocturnal theme.
-
The album’s core strengths are its thematic focus on night-time motifs, cohesive sequencing, and the trio’s recognizable personal sound.
Themes
Critic's Take
Tom Bolton writes with affectionate precision about Saint Etienne's The Night, arguing the best songs - notably “Preflyte” and “Hear my Heart” - are miniature, hallucinatory consolations. He frames the record as a headphone album that distils place and memory into dreamy, sleep-walking vignettes, praising how “When You Were Young” and “Nightingale” conjure nocturnal clarity. The voice throughout is measured and admiring, claiming these tracks make the band sound like everything they have done and nothing else at once. This is an album whose best tracks feel like balm for 2am thoughts, intimate and quietly monumental.
Key Points
-
The best song is a hypnotic, culminating piece - "Hear my Heart" - because its repeating loops create a reverie that anchors the album.
-
The album’s core strengths are its nocturnal atmosphere, precise sense of place, and the intimate, consoling performances from Sarah Cracknell.
Themes
mu
Critic's Take
In her calm, descriptive tone Sandra Blemster finds the best songs on The Night to be gentle cinematic vignettes rather than pop hits. She highlights “Half Light” as the liminal centrepiece and points to “Preflyte” and “No Rush” as haunting, tender moments that linger. The review keeps the reader in subdued, evocative detail, noting rain as a recurring motif and urging listeners to treat Saint Etienne’s album as a post-party lullaby. For those searching "best tracks on The Night" the recommendation is clear: seek out “Half Light”, “Preflyte” and “No Rush” for the album’s most affecting passages.
Key Points
-
The best song, "Half Light", is singled out as the album's ethereal centrepiece capturing dusk and setting the mood.
-
The album's core strengths are its tranquil, cinematic soundscapes, recurring rain imagery, and intimate, headphone-friendly detail.