Good Humor (album)
| Good Humor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Saint Etienne | ||||
| Released | 4 May 1998 | |||
| Recorded | Spring 1997 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, synthpop | |||
| Length | 43:35 | |||
| Label | Creation | |||
| Producer | Tore Johansson | |||
| Saint Etienne chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Entertainment Weekly | B |
| NME | 4/10 |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.0/10 (7.4/10 deluxe) |
| Robert Christgau |  |
| Rolling Stone |  |
Good Humor is the fourth studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne, released in 1998. The American spelling "humor" is used in the title as the band were, according to Sarah Cracknell, "fed up with the 'quintessentially English' tag, so there was a bit of a backlash against that."
The album was a departure for the group, who had been associated with the indie dance genre. Tiger Bay, their previous album, had added many acoustic and orchestral elements but still belonged to the synthpop and dance genres, while Good Humor is more acoustic, having more in common musically with their 1993 hit single "You're in a Bad Way". Good Humor was demoed in the UK using synths and drum machines, but was recorded in Sweden under the guidance of Tore Johansson, who augmented their sound with a full band and a horn section.
Good Humor was recorded in two weeks at Tambourine Studios, Malmö, Sweden. The album was produced by Tore Johansson who had produced all of The Cardigans' previous studio albums. Most of the B-sides were also recorded and produced during the two-week sessions. Sarah Cracknell cut short the promotion of her solo album Lipslide and single "Goldie" to record the album.
The album's opening track, "Wood Cabin", contains the lyrics "Never write a love song/Never write a trip out/Never write a ballad". These lines are paraphrased from an interview that the Manic Street Preachers did for BBC2's Snub TV in 1991 ("We'll never write a love song, ever. Full stop. Or a ballad, or a trip-out..."), when the Manics and Saint Etienne were both signed to Heavenly Records.
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