2020 collection. Songs For The Fountain Coffee Room is the latest in the highly popular Saint Etienne Present series, soundtracks for places both real and imaginary. This time, Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs have put together a selection to fit a bar in mid-'70s Los Angeles, the kind of place where Warren Beatty and Julie Christie might meet in the afternoon for a secret rendezvous between shooting scenes for Shampoo. There's a high quotient of airy, top-down soul, FM yacht rock, and an even larger amount of blue-eyed soul, with the odd singer-songwriter from Laurel Canyon making an appearance. Familiar summer sounds come from Todd Rundgren ('Love Is The Answer'), Millie Jackson ('A House For Sale') and Seals & Crofts ('Get Closer'). Among the discoveries are Hall and Oates' deep cut 'Lilly (Are You Happy)'; Bill Quateman's irresistible acoustic guitar and string-powered 'Only Love'; Marvin Gaye's gorgeous 'Where Are We Going?', from the period between "What's Going On" and "Let's Get It On"; and the Â£100 crossover soul gem 'One Way Or The Other' by the Fifth Avenue Band. These gems are the kind of thing Netflix will be tripping over themselves to use next season. Amid the potted palms, the pace is strictly mid-tempo; it's too warm for anything faster. The windows are wide open, the sky is a clear blue, and this is the perfect summer soundtrack.

Tracklist:

Only Love - Bill Quateman
Where Are We Going? - Marvin Gaye
Get Closer - Seals ; Crofts
Tell Her She's Lovely - Batteaux
One Way or the Other - the Fifth Avenue Band
Lilly (Are You Happy) - Daryl Hall ; John Oates
Love Is the Answer - Utopia
Oh Honey - Delegation
Easy to Love - Leo Sayer 1
A House for Sale - Millie Jackson 1
Tin Man - John Edwards 1
Thunder in the Afternoon - Bobbie Gentry 1
Save It for a Rainy Day - Stephen Bishop 1
Love Don't Come No Stronger 1
(Than Yours and Mine) - Jeff Perry 1
Hollywood - Boz Scaggs 1
A Love of Your Own - Ned Doheny 1
Natural High - Bloodstone 1
Hickory - Frankie Valli ; the Four Seasons 2
Touch Me Baby (Reaching Out 2
For Your Love) - Tamiko Jones 2
Sunshower - Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band

UPC: 029667098526
Label: Ace Records Uk
Release Date: 8.7.20
Format: CD

Saint Etienne - Saint Etienne Present Songs For The Fountain Coffee Room / Various (CD)