Sarah Cracknell - Lipslide

Sarah Cracknell, the frontwoman for Saint Etienne, step out on her own with Lipslide, a wonderfully poppy album. It still sounds vaguely like Saint Etienne, but that may simply be because her distinctive voice is so evocative of that band. “Anymore” is a delightful little gem, and you have to wonder why lesser tracks by mediocre artists regularly make it onto the radio waves. “Home” and “Goldie” both achieve a quiet grace, while “Coastal Town” and “Aussie Soap Girl” benefit from some delicate guitar strumming. Cracknell takes on the Saint Etienne habit of naming songs seemingly at random, but when they’re this good, who cares?