When two cult favorites come head-to-head to record a single together, you’d expect the results to be special – but ‘Brand New Me’ is so much more than the sum of its parts. It’s a pumped-up cartoon of a pop record with hooks for days and the latest single to be taken from their forthcoming, and last, album, International, out this Friday, September 5 on Heavenly Recordings.

Saint Etienne first met their Heavenly label mates Confidence Man at Kite Festival back in 2022, and it was love at first sight. Confidence Man had been weaned on a diet of Saint Etienne and Vegemite whilst growing up in Australia, while Saint Etienne were genuinely dazzled by Confidence Man’s shiny, new, exciting cocktail of electro-pop hedonism. Plans were instantly hatched to work together, and the result is ‘Brand New Me’.

Sarah Cracknell and Janet Planet’s voices are a natural pairing, and when Sarah steps in for the spoken word parts, ‘Brand New Me’ begins to feel like the lovechild ‘Nothing Can Stop Us’ always hinted at.

Talking about the collaboration, Sarah of Saint Etienne said: “I got a message from Danny Mitchell at Heavenly Recordings, Saint Etienne’s spiritual home, about an Australian band they had signed called Confidence Man. Danny told me they were fans of our music and would love to meet and chat about a potential collaboration. We met backstage at a festival and immediately hit it off, kindred spirits! Making ‘Brand New Me’ was a lot of fun and I think it’s a perfect mash up of both our band’s styles.

The single is accompanied by a fantastic Hanna Barbera inspired video directed and animated by Kyle Platts and Matt Lloyd.