Sarah Cracknell

Sarah Jane Cracknell (born 12 April 1965) is an English singer-songwriter and lead singer of the electronic music band Saint Etienne.

Career Cracknell's career started with the Windsor-based indie band The Worried Parachutes in 1982. Following the demise of the band she released two solo singles, "Love Is All You Need" and "Coastal Town", in 1987. With friend Mick Bund, she then formed a new band, Prime Time, who released a handful of singles. and ended up doing the rest of the singing on their debut album Foxbase Alpha. Cracknell has been Saint Etienne's permanent vocalist since then.

Preceded by the single "Anymore" in 1996, Cracknell released a solo album, Lipslide, in May 1997. Originally released in the UK only by Gut Records, the album featured dance, indie and pop tunes and received good reviews from critics, but was not a big seller (Cracknell has in interviews placed some of the blame on lack of proper promotion by Gut).

Lipslide finally surfaced in the U.S. three years later, when Instinct Records released it in February 2000. With completely different cover art, the original album's track listing was also modified: five tracks were removed and four new songs plus a remix were added. Months later, Instinct released the Kelly's Locker EP, which contained the five tracks originally removed from the UK version of Lipslide, along with two previously unreleased songs and a new remix.

Cracknell was Spiller's first choice for the vocals of his number-one hit "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" in 2000, but she never got to record the song, which instead featured Sophie Ellis-Bextor. She has recorded tracks with various artists such as David Holmes ("Anymore", "Gone"), Xploding Plastix ("Sunset Spirals"), Cheapglue ("You've Just Won Me Over") and Paul Van Dyk ("The Riddle (Tell Me Why)," although billed as a collaboration between Van Dyk and St. Etienne but with Cracknell on vocals).

She recorded a duet of Dusty Springfield's 1968 song "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" with Marc Almond for his album Stardom Road, released in June 2007.

In December 2007, BBC radio began playing "The Journey Continues" by Mark Brown featuring Cracknell. The song consists of extensive samples from a composition by Elena Kats-Chernin entitled Eliza's Aria, well known to UK TV viewers as the music from the animated 'For the Journey' commercials for Lloyds TSB bank. The single was released in February 2008 on Positiva. The song peaked at #11 in the UK after being released.

Cracknell has collaborated with French pop star Etienne Daho on several occasions. She co-wrote and sang back-up vocals on "Les passagers" from his 1996 album Eden, and also co-wrote "Le premier jour" which was released as a single from his greatest hits compilation Singles. With Saint Etienne, they collaborated on the Reserection EP. Saint Etienne's single "He's on the Phone" (which featured both Cracknell and Daho) was actually an English-language adaptation of Daho's French language 1984 single "Weekend à Rome".

On 21 August 2014, Cherry Red Records announced that it had signed Cracknell to a worldwide deal under which she would release a new solo album. The album, entitled Red Kite, was recorded in December 2014 and released on 15 June 2015. A series of live shows by Cracknell in support the album were planned for the weeks following its release.

Personal life Cracknell married Martin Kelly (joint managing director of Heavenly Recordings and Heavenly Films) in Kensington and Chelsea, London, on 5 December 2004. They have two children, born in Westminster, London, in 2001 and 2004.

Cracknell is the daughter of Derek Cracknell, an assistant film director, who worked with people such as Stanley Kubrick, and actor and singer Julie Samuel (born 1944).

Discography The discography consists of two studio albums, two compilations, six solo singles and four singles as a featured artist.

Albums Studio albums Title Details Peak chart positions UK Lipslide Released: May 1997, February 2000 (US) Format: Digital download, CD Label: Gut Records/Honey Lane, Virgin Records, Instinct (US) — Red Kite Released: June 2015 Format: Digital download, CD, vinyl Label: Cherry Red Records 49 "—" denotes an album that did not chart.

Instrumental albums Title Details Kites Released: July 2016 Format: 10" vinyl, digital Label: Cherry Red Records

Compilation albums Title Details Kelly's Locker Released: 12 September 2000 Format: Digital download, CD Label: Instinct Lipslide – Deluxe Edition Released: 12 November 2012 Format: Digital download, CD Label: Heavenly Records, Universal UMC

Singles As lead singer Year Title Peak chart positions Album UK 1987 "Love Is All You Need" / "Coastal Town"(7" single) — "Coastal Town"(12" single) — 1996 "Anymore" 39 Lipslide 1997 "Goldie" — "Desert Baby" — 2015 "Nothing Left to Talk About"(featuring Nicky Wire) — Red Kite "Take the Silver" — "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As featured artist Year Title Peak chart positions Album UK 1996 "Gone"(David Holmes featuring Sarah Cracknell) 75 This Film's Crap Let's Slash the Seats 2003 "Sunset Spirals"(Xploding Plastix featuring Sarah Cracknell) — The Donca Matic Singalongs 2007 "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten"(Marc Almond featuring Sarah Cracknell) — Stardom Road "The Journey Continues"(Mark Brown featuring Sarah Cracknell) 11 "Growth of Raindrops" (Warm Digits feat. Sarah Cracknell)— Wireless World "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Guest appearances