Saint Etienne (Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley, Pete Wiggs) are fittingly praised for never letting 1960s-referencing pop music out of sight.
In Home Counties the group blends its love of that form with a collection of songs about "a day in the life of this doughnut of shires".
Conceptual in form, and held together by the nostalgia and romance of suburban rail journeys, the music of Vaughan Williams (Church Pew Furniture Restorer), BBC radio announcements (Popmaster, Sports Report), a slew of masterful pop tunes referencing long-forgotten TV theme songs (including Take it All In) and poetry in locomotion (Sweet Arcadia), this superb album is a warm-hearted love letter not just to the Home Counties but also – no matter where you live – home, sweet home.
