There is a dance pop sheen on Saint Etienne’s latest album, “Words and Music by Saint Etienne,” that has seeped into the trio’s previous efforts, but never with such wholehearted and fully realized zest. It’s quite possible that the trio’s lead singer, Brit pop ingenue Sarah Cracknell, could be mistaken for — gasp — Kylie Minogue when she commands “Let’s dance” on the sultry “The Last Days of Disco.”

But in true Saint Etienne fashion, lurking behind the pulsing and immaculately polished melodies is a shadow of sadness. Cracknell describes the musical goulash as both quintessentially British, but also quite Scandinavian.