Words And Music By Saint Etienne is the first record from the dance-pop survivors in seven years.

The album is something of a meta-piece, examining and celebrating what it is to listen to – and love listening to – pop music. Accordingly, Words And Music By Saint Etienne is an unabashed record, entirely unapologetic about its pop smarts. Richard X and Nick Coler (once of Xenomonia) add gloss, and tracks like ‘I’ve Got Your Music’ and ‘DJ’ pitch directly for the disco. Cracknell even throws in some wistful narration (“I used Top Of The Pops as my world’s atlas”) to hammer the point home.

The album is now available to listen to in full over at NPR. Sadly, the stream doesn’t extend to the remix LP (from which last week’s jaunty Golden Filter remix was plucked), but Words And Music By Saint Etienne offer more than enough saccharine food for thought on its own.

Click here to give the album a spin. Words And Music By Saint Etienne is out today through Universal.