Splendid Saint Etienne Delivers Pretty Melodies to Ponder

There are two sides to British group Saint Etienne. On the one hand, the trio has achieved its share of hit singles in England, thanks to a fixation with the bubbly, ‘60s-pop universe of Burt Bacharach and John Barry. But Saint Etienne also experiments with noise and texture, and it records obscurely titled, ambient instrumentals.

Those distinct elements came together at the Palace on Monday, when the band presented material from its latest album, the superb “Sound of Water.”

Whereas Saint Etienne’s previous effort, 1998’s “Good Humor,” overflowed with sugary hooks, “Sound of Water” is a somber affair, the aural X-ray of a soul burning with longing and irony. The pretty melodies are still there, but the emotions behind them are complex and mature.

Although singer Sarah Cracknell has expressed disappointment at the band’s inability to achieve massive success, Saint Etienne continues to throw caution to the winds. On Monday, its defiant attitude was evident in the performance of its single “Heart Failed (In the Back of a Taxi).” The languid beat and abstract chorus implied a contempt for the conventional wisdom of what a chart-topping tune is supposed to sound like.

Other songs were meditative and equally gorgeous, such as the tender ‘Downey, CA,” dedicated to Karen Carpenter’s hometown, and the ambitious, nine-minute “How We Used to Live.” The latter continues a British tradition of symphonic pop forged by the likes of Paul McCartney, Supertramp and 10CC. Expanded on stage into a nine-piece mini-orchestra, Saint Etienne re-created the complex arrangements of its recordings with warmth and verve.