Home Counties (album)

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.

Home Counties
Studio album by Saint Etienne
Released	2 June 2017 (2017-06-02)
Length	56:20
Label	Heavenly
Producer	Augustus Carwyn Ellis Shawn Lee Nick Moon Saint Etienne Pete Wiggs
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
"Magpie Eyes" Released: 11 April 2017[1] "Dive" Released: 7 August 2017[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	79/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Clash	6/10[6]
The Guardian	[7]
Mixmag	8/10[8]
Mojo	[9]
The Observer	[10]
Pitchfork	7.6/10[11]
Q	[12]
The Skinny	[13]
Uncut	9/10[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.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"The Reunion"			0:22
2.	"Something New"	Sarah Cracknell Bob Stanley Pete Wiggs		3:17
3.	"Magpie Eyes"	Cracknell Stanley Wiggs		3:35
4.	"Whyteleafe"	Cracknell Stanley Wiggs Gus Lobban	Saint Etienne Lee Augustus	3:09
5.	"Dive"	Cracknell Stanley Wiggs Carwyn Ellis		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	Saint Etienne Lee Richard X[a]	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"	Cracknell Stanley Wiggs Nick Moon	Wiggs Lee Moon	3:58
14.	"Sports Report"			0:12
15.	"Train Drivers in Eyeliner"	Cracknell Stanley Wiggs		3:17
16.	"Unopened Fan Mail"	Cracknell Stanley Wiggs Robin Bennett		3:04
17.	"What Kind of World"	Cracknell Stanley Wiggs		3:08
18.	"Sweet Arcadia"	Cracknell Stanley Wiggs Gerard Johnson		7:44
19.	"Angel of Woodhatch"	Cracknell Stanley Wiggs		2:14

Japanese digital download bonus track^[16]

No.	Title	Length
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

• Sarah Cracknell – vocals
• Bob Stanley – keyboards
• Pete Wiggs – keyboards

Additional musicians

• Shawn Lee – drums, percussion, programming, Maestro Rhythm King, bass, guitars, banjo, vibraphone, Mellotron, Yamaha ED10, Siel synth, Casio CZ101, Yamaha CS-5, Roland MC-202, Crumar Multiman, microKORG, Omnichord, glockenspiel, marimba, tambourine handclaps, backing vocals
• Gerard Johnson – voice (track 1); piano (tracks 1, 2, 15, 18); Fender Rhodes, Hammond organ, Teisco 100P, Yamaha YS100 (tracks 2, 15, 18)
• Carwyn Ellis – bass, guitars, Mellotron, harpsichord, Hammond organ (tracks 5, 7)
• Augustus – programming (tracks 4, 11); Novation Bass Station, Kawai PHm, Yamaha PSR-76 (track 4); Roland MT-32, Korg 101 (track 11)
• Ben Greenslade-Stanton – trombone, trumpet (tracks 2, 5, 9)
• Mark Waterfield – guitar, backing vocals (track 10)
• Lawrence Oakley – programming, Nord Lead 3, backing vocals (track 10)
• Tim Larcombe – bass (track 3)
• James Arben – flute (track 18)
• Ken Bruce – voice (track 8)
• Wolf – voice (track (14)

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