SAINT ETIENNE

The quintessentially English pop trio, Saint Etienne are back with their first new record in five years. Home Counties is both an homage to and cathartic re-visitation of the suurbia surrounding London where Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley, and Pete Wiggs grew up. Writing independently of each other, the band members convened at producer Shawn Lee’s studio in, ironically, central London to record an album that reflects their roots both geographically and musically while at the same time taking their usual unique look at the state of the world today (see Stanley’s thoughts on imagining David Bowie in “Whyteleaf” or his vision of a glam rock train drivers’ union). Fans will note the reappearance of connecting audio clips between songs, such as Stanley and Wiggs used to use on the mixtapes they made for each other, that were prevalent on the bands’ early records. And a sound that echoes the straight-up pop of 1998’s Good Humor , and the more experimental electro-pop of 2001’s Finisterre , while continuing to take in their love of the ’60s and ’70s. [Note:These are extra portions of our separate interviews with