Home Counties (album)

Home Counties
Studio album by
Saint Etienne
Released2 June 2017 (2017-06-02)
Length56:20
LabelHeavenly
Producer
Saint Etienne chronology
Words and Music by Saint Etienne
(2012) 		Home Counties
(2017) 		I've Been Trying to Tell You
(2021)
Singles from Home Counties
  1. "Magpie Eyes"
    Released: 11 April 2017[1]
  2. "Dive"
    Released: 7 August 2017[2]

Home Counties is the ninth studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne, released on 2 June 2017 by Heavenly Recordings.[3] The album features collaborations with Gerard Johnson, Augustus (also known as Gus Lobban of Kero Kero Bonito) and Nick Moon (of Kyte). The album features production from Shawn Lee, Carwyn Ellis and Richard X.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Clash6/10[6]
The Guardian[7]
Mixmag8/10[8]
Mojo[9]
The Observer[10]
Pitchfork7.6/10[11]
Q[12]
The Skinny[13]
Uncut9/10[14]

Home Counties received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 79, based on 16 reviews.[4]

Commercial performance

Home Counties debuted at number 31 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 3,215 copies in its first week.[15]

Track listing

All tracks produced by Saint Etienne and Shawn Lee, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."The Reunion"  0:22
2."Something New"
 3:17
3."Magpie Eyes"
  • Cracknell
  • Stanley
  • Wiggs
 3:35
4."Whyteleafe"
3:09
5."Dive"
 4:49
6."Church Pew Furniture Restorer"
  • Cracknell
  • Stanley
  • Wiggs
 1:53
7."Take It All In"
  • Cracknell
  • Stanley
  • Wiggs
  • Ellis
 3:25
8."Popmaster"  0:29
9."Underneath the Apple Tree"
  • Cracknell
  • Stanley
  • Wiggs
 2:35
10."Out of My Mind"
  • Cracknell
  • Stanley
  • Wiggs
  • Lawrence Oakley
  • Mark Waterfield
3:58
11."After Hebden"
  • Cracknell
  • Stanley
  • Wiggs
  • Lobban
  • Saint Etienne
  • Lee
  • Augustus
3:31
12."Breakneck Hill"
  • Cracknell
  • Stanley
  • Wiggs
 1:39
13."Heather"
  • Wiggs
  • Lee
  • Moon
3:58
14."Sports Report"  0:12
15."Train Drivers in Eyeliner"
  • Cracknell
  • Stanley
  • Wiggs
 3:17
16."Unopened Fan Mail"
 3:04
17."What Kind of World"
  • Cracknell
  • Stanley
  • Wiggs
 3:08
18."Sweet Arcadia"
 7:44
19."Angel of Woodhatch"
  • Cracknell
  • Stanley
  • Wiggs
 2:14
Japanese digital download bonus track[16]
No.TitleLength
20."You Don't Own Me" 

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Home Counties.[17]

Saint Etienne

Additional musicians

Technical

  • Shawn Lee – production (all tracks); mixing (tracks 1–9, 11–19)
  • Saint Etienne – production (tracks 1–12, 14–19)
  • Pierre Duplan – engineering (all tracks); mixing (tracks 1–9, 11–19)
  • Carwyn Ellis – production (tracks 5, 7)
  • Augustus – production (tracks 4, 11)
  • Richard X – additional production, mixing (track 10)
  • Pete Wiggs – production (track 13)
  • Nick Moon – production (track 13)
  • Guy Davie – mastering at Electric Mastering (London)

Artwork

  • Scott King – art, design
  • Rhys Atkinson – art assistance, design assistance
  • Dee Noble – photography

Charts

Chart performance for Home Counties
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] 190
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19] 97
Scottish Albums (OCC)[20] 22
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[21] 86
UK Albums (OCC)[22] 31
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[23] 3
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[24] 21

References

  1. ^ "Magpie Eyes (2017) | Saint Etienne". 7digital. United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  2. ^ "Dive (3:35 Edit) (2017) | Saint Etienne". 7digital. United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  3. ^ Brandle, Lars (23 March 2017). "Saint Etienne Returns with 'Home Counties'". Billboard. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Reviews and Tracks for Home Counties by Saint Etienne". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  5. ^ Sendra, Tim. "Home Counties – Saint Etienne". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  6. ^ Heaney, Joe (30 June 2017). "Saint Etienne – Home Counties". Clash. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  7. ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (1 June 2017). "Saint Etienne: Home Counties review – finding Arcadia in the Brexit heartlands". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  8. ^ Moore, Ralph (2 June 2017). "June: 18 albums you need to hear this month". Mixmag. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  9. ^ Tyler, Kieron (July 2017). "Filter Albums". Mojo. No. 284. p. 86. ISSN 1351-0193.
  10. ^ Morris, Damien (4 June 2017). "Saint Etienne: Home Counties review – a winningly witty paean". The Observer. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  11. ^ Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (10 June 2017). "Saint Etienne: Home Counties". Pitchfork. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  12. ^ Harrison, Ian (Summer 2017). "Q Review: New Albums". Q. No. 374. p. 108. ISSN 0955-4955.
  13. ^ Wade, Lewis (30 May 2017). "Saint Etienne – Home Counties". The Skinny. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  14. ^ Dale, Jon (July 2017). "Saint Etienne – Home Counties". Uncut. No. 242. p. 37. ISSN 1368-0722. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  15. ^ Jones, Alan (9 June 2017). "Official Charts Analysis: Ed Sheeran's ÷ back at No.1". Music Week. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  16. ^ "Home Counties". Hostess Entertainment. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  17. ^ Home Counties (liner notes). Saint Etienne. Heavenly Recordings. 2017. HVNLP139CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ^ "Ultratop.be – Saint Etienne – Home Counties" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  19. ^ "Ultratop.be – Saint Etienne – Home Counties" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  20. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  21. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Saint Etienne – Home Counties". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  22. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  23. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  24. ^ "Saint Etienne Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 June 2017.