"This is Radio 4, and more of The Reunion". So goes the warm blanket voice of a Radio 4 presenter right at the start of Home Counties. No doubt 'The Reunion' applies itself to Saint Etienne, a band who rarely converge in-between albums except for the odd tour and event, and who now live in separate parts of the country (Bob Stanley lives in London, Pete Wiggs in Hove, and Sarah Cracknell in Oxfordshire). They also demo and record much of their ideas and parts separately, before reuniting in the studio to finish off the job. That's the way they do things nowadays, as do many-a-band who have been around the block a few times. It's the only way to keep things fresh, their all-important personal and musical relationships. All three have their own independent lives, striving for different challenges beyond that of being in a pop band. Cracknell makes her own music, Wiggs is doing a post-grad and film work, and Stanley is a writer of pop culture, as well as getting more and more involved in soundtrack work.

Of course, Saint Etienne continues to be the springboard for all this extra-curricular activity. And, it's back to base every now and then to indulge in the more escapist string to their multi-faceted bow, that of Saint Etienne, purveyors of iconoclastic pure pop with a dreamy-dance edge.

Although comparisons are futile, one cannot help but notice and compare the work of Saint Etienne with that of Sgt Pepper, which has been remastered and re-released in time for its 50th anniversary, the same week as the release of Home Counties. Futile insofar as it's like comparing Muhammad Ali with Joe Bugner. Truly Great versus Pretty Good. But, both The Beatles at the time of Sgt Pepper, and St. Etienne (throughout most of their career) have zeroed in on character studies of their fellow Englishmen and women; their eccentricities as well as their ordinary humdrum ways, interspersed with the odd momentous decision ('She's Leaving Home'). Where they part ways though is St. Etienne's overtly quirky meets matter-of-fact analysis/narrative whilst utlising their long love affair of 60s beats and pop aesthetics. It's a peculiar language at odds with the universality of the Fab Four, but infectious all the same.

'Something New' is typical, a lyric about a young women creeping through the door after a night out. "She's walking through the door, she's searching for something new," sings Cracknell, while a real Surrey village called Whyteleafe takes centrestage for a beguiling song of the same name, beginning with stately harpsichord, as Cracknell sings about the municipal dreams of a suburbanite: "The Paris of the 60s, the Berlin of the 70s, the Stockholm of the 90s, his sweet municipal dreams in Whyteleafe, such a lonely, lonely leaf," recalling the "All the lonely people / Where do they all belong" of 'Eleanor Rigby'.

'Magpie Eyes' is meanwhile a new wave-esque effort (as is 'Out of My Mind'), kind of like The Tourists, a song that may have had a chance of being a proper hit before the internet decimated that for ever. Their supreme pop sensibility also shines through on the ridiculously eurodisco 'Dive', embellished with lashings of tropicalia, before 'Take It All In' goes full steam ahead for that classic 60s vibe of organ, chopped electric guitar chords, harpsichord and tightly wound bass. It's a cracker, a highlight of the album, as Saint Etienne walk that fine line between cheesy imitation and innovative pop, on this tale of someone appreciating what they have, right in front of them. Somewhere in the home counties, of course. "Drinking in the views, and taking it all in, then you can begin to really see".

Although the band over do it somewhat towards the end, the album is a tad too long, delights continue to liberally spring up, including the arrestingly entitled 'Train Drivers in Eyeliner'. A gentle indie-pop song in memory of former Earl Brutus frontman Nick Sanderson, who ended up driving trains, it re-imagines a world where train drivers get to decide what is played over the tannoy (Whitesnake, Section 25, etc). And then there's the interesting history of 'Sweet Arcadia' and the story of the 'plotlands', the precursor to suburbia and new towns. It's a stretched out piece that languorously jams on an organ solo, with an atmospheric, gently pulsing electronic undertow.

Adding to the concept flavour of Home Counties there are several short interludes, including the super short non-league football results reading of 'Sports Report', and the actual voice of Radio 2’s Ken Bruce, as he parodies himself on 'PopMaster'.

Stanley, Wiggs and Cracknell all have experience of living in the so-called home counties. Like most all of us, wherever we may have been brought up, it's remembered with fondness, but tempered with unease and much sadness. Thankfully, Saint Etienne refuse to over-egg the nostalgia pudding, or indulge in whimsy, instead inviting us to luxuriate within their peculiarly lamentful world that, while about a fairly specific geographical location, can of course be extrapolated to be anywhere on this planet. It's their heritage, but it's also ours, too.
Jeff Hemmings

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