W: George Gray. I: Joel Anning
A few weeks ago I experienced an event rarer than a blue moon - a streaming platform algorithm actually working. There I was listening to Lime Garden when bang a new track comes up: Uptight by Home Counties.
I was instantly drawn in, its infectious electro beat, guitars and drums all layered in structured chaos, a proper ear-worm. If any doubt was left the vocals quickly sealed the deal, its storytelling through two narrators, Will and Lois, delivering a versatility of pitch and tone that tied the track together.
Next thing I knew, I had their debut album, Exactly As It Seems, blaring through the speakers and that satirical wit blended with musical energy just kept coming. No time was to be wasted, and as I waxed lyrical to Seth over the phone we both agreed that an interview was much needed before we’d see them at Truck Festival.
So with our very scientific research conducted and a link up with the band lined up, we headed to the Batmobile (The Oxford Tube) and made haste to London.
The Barbican, an oasis in the heart of London's bustle, felt like a fitting place to meet a band whose music seems to be an escape from life in the chaotic capital. It's this escapism that their
lyrics so often tackle.
Throughout their work so far Home Counties have grappled with the dullness of 9-5's, the universal nuisance of renting and the heartbreak of your local pub running out of your favourite larger. With an ever-evolving sound, sometimes pop, sometimes indie, sometimes electro - the one thing that remains consistent is this lyricism. Catchy, yet full of playful commentary, it’s almost as if The Divine Comedy has had a distant electro cousin.
However, as lead vocalist Will Harrison jokes (mid beer-sip), the upcoming album Humdrum will have some more positive lyrical origins too. Despite these often weighty themes, their music is nothing but an explosion of energy.
We soon learn, however, it’s been a long road to this point. One that begins all the way back at
school where the first members met, before uni and post-study linkups formed the full crew. So
as the release of the new LP approaches we had to get the down-low on their biggest project to
date.
The guys reveal things really kicked into gear after their first album Posthumous Spreadsheets received serious acclaim. Acclaim that soon shifted into backing from high places, as LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip’s Al Doyle stepped in to aid production.
They quickly admit, it was an eye-opening collaboration. One that gave them a glimmer of the life electro-pop/indie at the very top offers. Armed with cocktail fuelled advice and a lair full of synths, together they crafted out the new LP, and if its first teaser tracks are anything to go by, the band have taken another leap forward.
It was always going to be a match made in heaven, but we learnt to the band’s credit they still largely stuck to their guns. A lot of the final mixing remained the handiwork of guitarist Connor, a seriously talented producer in his own right, having worked with the likes of Clean Bandit and produced the band’s catalogue up to the new LP. It was evident they’d made effort to keep their sound distinct.
As the pints flow, they reveal this love for production and musical curiosity is core to the group’s ethos. Throughout their ranks it’s the one common denominator, from DnB and Left-field electro production, to aspirations in the world of the Accordion, Home Counties certainly don’t limit themselves.
Moving further we spoke about the first two tracks to be released: Spain and Humdrum. Spain is characterised by its vocals, a narration that swirls and builds with darker electro sounds balanced against highlighted guitar riffs, until it all comes crashing into a series of heavy drops.
The result is a track that sends a crowd flying live, but at its core is a slightly darker image, one of disillusionment played through the metaphor of the Brit abroad lifestyle. The band found inspo for the track after a classic expat sighting, as a lobster-shaded individual pushed by them in a busy airport queue only to be sent all the way back, their entitlement reduced to a walk of shame.
This juxtaposition of a fast electro-indie with weightful lyrics is carried on in Humdrum. A track that’s synth-filled energy bursts into life and has you grooving to the very end, throwing that down-trodden feeling we can all experience up in the air with pure release.
Fast, addictive, and dancey electro-indie is nothing new, but what it often does so well is tackle these harder feelings of anxiety or stress, working through them with music that makes you bug
out.
Take Hot Chip’s Flutes, or Metronomy’s The Look and just see the thematic similarities - Home Counties are reviving this genre with their own innovative take and the result is special.
We caught up with the guys recently at Truck too, packing in a little interview and a shaky human pyramid. Their Sunday headline slot at The Nest stage was testament to all we’d discussed too, growing a heavy crowd that bought into their sound with conviction, limbs flying all over the place. Just another step-up in their already well-earnt festival pedigree.
From playing next to Vegan conversion vans, searching for missing riders in Wales and bringing out their very own maraca slinging version of Bez from the Happy Mondays they’ve had their fair share of it this summer, and come a long way forward.
So what about the future, we had to ask for their dream collabs. “Dizzee Rascal” came resounding back, Bonkers a firm favourite with the band, but more serious ambitions include the likes of LCD, Metronomy and Benson Boone…..maybe not Benson actually.
Whatever, their choice Home Counties are carving out their own style, taking from classic elements of those electroclash and indie-sleaze eras all with a distinct twist. Latest single New Best Thing just hammers this home, its blog-esque lyrics tumbling at you in a frenzied electro hit. Paired off with a fitting basement party video, it feels a real throwback, capable of slotting into an episode of Skins or an early PS2 game.
With tour dates, and the album release date on the horizon, it seems the band’s momentum will only rise. So if someone was to ask us who best represented the sound of the 2020s at the turn of the decade, we think Home Counties would be a pretty good bet. Either way there’s plenty more synth-filled satire on the way.
Find more info here:
Tour tickets: https://homecountiesband.com/
Album pre-order: https://subc.at/HumdrumAlbum