Saint Etienne release their new album, Home Counties, through Heavenly Recordings. The band grew up in the Home Counties and the 16 songs (56 min, 19 sec) they have written about a day in the life of this doughnut of shires that ring the capital are punctuated by bursts of BBC radio to remind you what time it is, and all connected by train journeys - main lines, branch lines, commutes, escapes...

Saint Etienne has tapped into something a little special here. Home Counties has 16 very diverse tracks that range from '60s psychedelic pop ('Something New'); '70s pop ('Take It All In') to more modern indie pop ('Heather'); to borderline classical music ('Angel Of Woodhatch'). There are 19 tracks on the album, with the 3 extra ones being clips from BBC radio shows.

This is one of those album that you'll enjoy a fair proportion of the tracks on the first play through. And, with subsequent plays you'll slowly start to appreciate the finer points of the other tracks. By the end of two weeks playing this over and over I was totally in love with almost every track.

Welcome to your new sound for the summer.

9

Nick Smithson