View source for Kiss and Make Up (Saint Etienne song)

{{Infobox song
| name       = Kiss and Make Up
| cover      = Saint etienne - kiss and make up.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Saint Etienne (band)|Saint Etienne]]
| album      = [[Foxbase Alpha]]
| A-side     = Kiss and Make Up
| B-side     = Sky's Dead
| released   = {{Start date|1990|10|01}}<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Smith |first=Robin |date=29 September 1990 |title=This Week - The Next Seven Days in View: Releases |magazine=[[Record Mirror]] |page=28 |issn=0144-5804}}</ref>
| recorded   =
| studio     =
| venue      =
| genre      =
* [[Indie pop]]
* [[dream pop]]<ref name= "RS 2004">{{cite book |chapter= Saint Etienne|last= Berger|first= Arion|title=[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide|The New Rolling Stone Album Guide]] |year=2004 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |edition=4th |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages= 713–714}}</ref>
| length     =
| label      = [[Heavenly Records|Heavenly]] - <small>HVN4</small>
| writer     = A side: Wratten/Hiscock<br/>B side: [[Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne)|Stanley]]/[[Pete Wiggs|Wiggs]]
| producer   =
| prev_title = [[Only Love Can Break Your Heart#Saint Etienne version|Only Love Can Break Your Heart]]
| prev_year  = 1990
| next_title = [[Nothing Can Stop Us (song)|Nothing Can Stop Us]]
| next_year  = 1991
| misc       = {{External music video|{{YouTube|WmjuJWWsVGo|"Kiss And Make Up"}}}}
}}
"'''Kiss and Make Up'''" is a song by [[Saint Etienne (band)|Saint Etienne]], released as a single in 1990. It is a cover version of "Let's Kiss and Make Up", a song by [[The Field Mice]] from their 1989 album, ''[[Snowball (album)|Snowball]]''.
==Background==
Saint Etienne were "drinking buddies" with Michael Hiscock from The Field Mice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saintetienne.com/music/kiss-and-make-up/ |title=Saint Etienne official site: Kiss and Make Up |publisher=Saintetienne.com |date=2012-05-28 |accessdate=2012-06-13}}</ref>  The group recorded two demos of this song in their first studio session in January 1990, with [[Moira Lambert]] on lead vocals.  Notably, they would go on to record with her what would become their first hit single, "[[Only Love Can Break Your Heart]]," in that same session.  The first demo of "Kiss And Make Up" was released as a bonus track on the group's 2009 release, ''Foxbase Beta'', a remix of their 1991 debut album, ''[[Foxbase Alpha]]'',  the second demo was released on the 25th anniversary vinyl boxset of same album.
A re-recorded version of "Kiss And Make Up," with New Zealand singer [[Donna Savage]] of [[Dead Famous People]] on vocals, was released in 1990 by [[Heavenly Records]] as the band's follow-up single to "Only Love Can Break Your Heart."  This version can be found on several compilation albums.
"Kiss and Make Up" does not feature on the original UK version of ''Foxbase Alpha'', but does feature on the US release.  The US release contains a fourth version of the song, re-recorded with [[Sarah Cracknell]] on vocals.  Cracknell had recently joined Saint Etienne as the group's full-time vocalist.
== Reception ==
In a 2016 retrospective review, Justin Chadwick from Albumism described "Kiss and Make Up" as a "piano-driven [[House music|house]] number".<ref>{{cite web|first= Justin |last= Chadwick |title= Saint Etienne's Debut Album 'Foxbase Alpha' Turns 25: Anniversary Retrospective |publisher= Albumism |date= 14 October 2016 |accessdate= 16 November 2020 |url= https://www.albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-25-years-of-saint-etienne-foxbase-alpha}}</ref> [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] from [[AllMusic]] noted its "irresistible [[girl group]] [[pop music|pop]]".<ref>{{cite web|first= Stephen Thomas |last= Erlewine |title= Saint Etienne – ''Foxbase Alpha'' |publisher= [[AllMusic]] |accessdate= 4 November 2020 |url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/foxbase-alpha-mw0000273790 |author-link= Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}</ref> Upon the release, Everett True from ''[[Melody Maker]]'' wrote, "After repeated listening, time spent happily lost inside the dreamy, slightly ambient tone of this [[electronic dance music|dance]] track, I have come to a conclusion: this is fab. It has a slightly androgynous female vocal, a piano which cascaded like a rivulet of water from pillar to post, drum machines which take on human characteristics all of their own, words of hope and wistfulness, more piano which, mirroring the percussion, keeps pounding away, a bass line that makes my head swoon."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Everett|last=True|work=[[Melody Maker]]|title=Singles|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/52205198243/|date=29 September 1990|access-date=24 February 2023}}</ref>	Selina Webb from ''[[Music Week]]'' found that Donna Savage "lends her husky tones to this moody swayer", adding that "this, despite its only footshuffling dance appeal, should take them closer to crossover success."<ref>{{cite magazine|first= Selina |last= Webb |title= Singles |work= [[Music Week]] |date= 6 October 1990 |page= 25 |accessdate= 31 October 2020 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1990/MW-1990-10-06.pdf}}</ref>
Jack Barron from ''[[New Musical Express|NME]]'' felt that Saint Etienne's new single is "totally addictive", "setting a very white [[Indie music|indie]] female voice against a chugging bassline."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Jack|last=Barron|work=[[New Musical Express|NME]]|title=Singles|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/52212180847/|date=6 October 1990|access-date=24 February 2023}}</ref> Another editor noted, "This ''is'' mellow. A product of house-tuned bodies slowing down even further than the [[Soul II Soul]] shuffle and spliffing up to a soft skanking rhythm."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=|last=|work=[[New Musical Express|NME]]|title=Groove Check|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/52202976676/|date=22 September 1990|access-date=24 February 2023}}</ref> A reviewer from ''[[Smash Hits]]'' commented, "These are the people who brought us the brilliant dance version of old hippy [[Neil Young]]'s "[[Only Love Can Break Your Heart#Saint Etienne version|Only Love Can Break Your Heart]]" tune. This, their second single, is a house [[reggae]] cover of a tune written by some weedy indie group called [[The Field Mice]] (!). Incredibly girlie and irritating, but there's something quite "appealing" about it."<ref>{{cite magazine|title= Down the Rave-up! |work= [[Smash Hits]] |date= 3 October 1990 |page= 63 |accessdate= 19 October 2020 |url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/smashhits90s/27955192748/in/album-72157693182047242/}}</ref>
==Track listing==
All tracks written and composed by Robert Wratten and Michael Hiscock; except where indicated.
* '''7" - Heavenly / HVN4'''
# "Kiss and Make Up" – 4:09
# "Sky's Dead" ([[Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne)|Stanley]], [[Pete Wiggs|Wiggs]]) – 3:02
* '''12" - Heavenly / HVN4 12'''
# "Kiss and Make Up (Extended Version)" – 6:19
# "Sky's Dead" ([[Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne)|Stanley]], [[Pete Wiggs|Wiggs]]) – 7:32
* '''12" - Heavenly / HVN4 12R'''
# "Kiss and Make Up (Midsummer Madness Mix)" – 8:19
# "Kiss and Make (Midsummer Dubness Mix)" – 7:10
<small>Note: [[Pete Heller]] - Producer, Additional Keyboards, Additional Programming</small>
* '''CD - Heavenly / HVN4CD'''
# "Kiss and Make Up" – 4:09
# "Kiss and Make (Extended Version)" – 6:19
# "Sky's Dead" ([[Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne)|Stanley]], [[Pete Wiggs|Wiggs]]) – 7:32
==Charts==
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!align="left"|Chart (1990)
!align="center"|Peak<br />position
|-
|align="left"|[[UK Singles Chart|UK Singles]] ([[Official Charts Company|OCC]])
|align="center"|80
|-
|}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Saint Etienne}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Songs about kissing]]
[[Category:Saint Etienne (band) songs]]
[[Category:1990 singles]]
[[Category:1989 songs]]
[[Category:Heavenly Recordings singles]]