Sadier was working as a nanny when she met McCarthy leader Tim Gane at a gig in Paris during the late 1980s. Sadier was disillusioned with the rock scene in France, and soon moved to London to be with Gane and to pursue her career. She had contributed vocals to McCarthy's third and final album. The band broke up in 1990 and she and Gane immediately formed Stereolab. For the first incarnation of the band, they enlisted ex-Chills bassist Martin Kean, drummer Joe Dilworth and Gina Morris on backing vocals.
While Tim Gane has written the bulk of the music in Stereolab, it is Sadier's singsong, alto vocals and often revolutionary lyrics (both in English and French) that have become trademarks of the band's sound. Sadier also plays keyboards, percussion, guitar (she's left-handed) and trombone.
In 1996, Sadier formed the spin-off band Monade with Pram's Rosie Cuckston.
Sadier has contributed vocals to various other groups and projects, at times along with the late Stereolab member Mary Hansen. Among her contributions were, adding French backing vocals on To the End, a top 20 hit for Blur in 1994. In 1995, Sadier had recorded the Serge Gainsbourg/Brigitte Bardot song "Bonnie and Clyde" with Luna. She and Hansen had contributed vocals to the recordings of the High Llamas (the project of sometimes-Stereolab member Sean O'Hagan). In 2001, Sadier sang on "Sol y Sombra" on Fugu's Fugu 1 LP on Minty Fresh Records. In 2002, Sadier sang the chorus on New Wave from Common's album Electric Circus. She sang lead vocals on Haiku One from Sigmatropic's 2004 album Sixteen Haiku & Other Stories which was an album based on the poetry of Greek poet George Seferis. In 2009 the French label Deux Mille released an ep which features Laetitia Sadier singing with Momotte, a band out of Toulouse.
Sadier also wrote and sang the lyrics to the track Quick Canal by Atlas Sound for the 2009 release Logos.
In 2010 she released a solo album called The Trip.
While she spent most of her formative years in France, Sadier's family travelled extensively and she lived briefly in the US as a child.
After many years together (they remained unmarried), Sadier and Tim Gane split up in 2004, but they continued to work together in Stereolab until the band's hiatus in 2009. They have a child, Alex, born in 1998.
By The Sea
Lætitia Sadier Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've said goodbye before leaving you alone by the sea
We were thrown together, a world unlike our own
Believing in each other, we drifted far away
By the sea, by the sea
Some may say, love comes easy unlike love ours was empty
Insincere and ever fading
One-sided love is lost before it's found
A chance that my love will never become, never become
Someone else will love me though I may think of you
It doesn't really matter 'cause all my love was lost (by the sea)
In time I may forgive or tell myself a lie
And leave what never was another chance to be (by the sea)
By the sea, by the sea
The lyrics to Lætitia Sadier's "By the Sea" speak of the difficulty of saying goodbye, particularly in the context of a past relationship that did not work out. The singer has said goodbye before and left the other person alone by the sea, suggesting that perhaps the sea holds some significance in their memory. They recall a time when they were "thrown together" in a world unlike their own, but drifted far away while still believing in each other. It's unclear why the relationship ended, but the implication is that it was an empty and insincere love, leaving the singer feeling lonely and with no chance at a lasting love.
The second verse addresses the idea that "love comes easy," but in this case, it was "ever fading" and left the singer feeling like they were the only one invested in the relationship. The line "one-sided love is lost before it's found" is particularly poignant, suggesting that perhaps the love was doomed from the start. The singer acknowledges that someone else will love them eventually, but all their love was lost by the sea. They may forgive in time or tell themselves a lie, but ultimately they are leaving what never was for another chance to be, once again by the sea.
Line by Line Meaning
So hard to say goodbye meaning it today
It is difficult to say goodbye, especially considering the present circumstances
I've said goodbye before leaving you alone by the sea
We have been in this situation before, parting ways while being near the sea
We were thrown together, a world unlike our own
We were brought together in a place and situation that was different from what we were accustomed to
Believing in each other, we drifted far away
With trust in one another, we went on to explore far and distant places
By the sea, by the sea
All of these experiences took place near the sea
Some may say, love comes easy unlike love ours was empty
People might argue that love is easy to come by, but our relationship lacked meaning
Insincere and ever fading
It felt like the love we had for each other was not genuine and was constantly diminishing
Your words and love left me lonely
Your expressions of love and affection only made me feel more isolated
One-sided love is lost before it's found
Love that is not reciprocated is doomed to fail from the beginning
A chance that my love will never become, never become
It seems unlikely that the love I had for you will ever come to fruition
Someone else will love me though I may think of you
Perhaps in the future, someone else will come to love me even though thoughts of you may still linger
It doesn't really matter 'cause all my love was lost (by the sea)
In the end, it does not matter because all the love I had for you was lost, just like the way things were lost at sea
In time I may forgive or tell myself a lie
With time, I might forgive you or pretend that what happened between us was not as hurtful
And leave what never was another chance to be (by the sea)
I can move on from the past that never really existed and find another chance to start anew, possibly by the sea once again
By the sea, by the sea
The sea serves as a symbol of the fleeting nature of love and life, and the possibility of new beginnings
Contributed by Jonathan F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.