Home Counties make their long-awaited return with news of their signing to Submarine Cat Records and release new single 'Bethnal Green'.
The track is the first new music to be heard since their acclaimed 2022 EP, In A Middle English Town. Named for the area of London that they moved to last year (the six-piece now all live together in one collective band flat), new single ‘Bethnal Green’ signals the release of the bands debut album, due in early 2024.
Prioritising the beauty in the ordinary and unanimously leaning into a fun, exploratory way of thinking on their new material, ‘Bethnal Green’ is the first taste of a rejuvenated Home Counties. Built around a playfully Devo-ish synth, the song tracks a notable sonic shift away from guitars, embracing melody and a more dance-oriented sensibility.
Listen to ‘Bethnal Green’ by Home Counties on the Shoot Music New Releases Playlist on Spotify.
Songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Will Harrisons recalls initially thinking he’d pushed the remit too far: “When I first showed it to the guys I was like ‘Oh you won’t like this, it’s just some crap pop thing I’ve come up with,'” he chuckles. “But then immediately everyone was into it. It felt good we could do this sort of song; it really opened up what was ‘acceptable’.”
Produced and recorded by the band’s guitarist Conor Kearney, ‘Bethnal Green’ was the first song to be written after the band’s move to London two years ago, and officially introduces new member Lois Kelly to the fold. Lois’ vibrant lead vocals add an enticing new dimension to the band’s already unique sonic identity.
Having spent much of 2022 touring, playing their own sold-out headline shows before joining Psychedelic Porn Crumpets for a UK run, the band took the first half of this year to complete work on their debut album and have fully embraced the power of a good time.
“We just love songs that are dancey. We want our gigs to be fun. On our last tour we were finally at a stage where we had enough new material – on top of the last EP – where every song basically felt like a dance song; that’s the music we like to listen to and the shows we want to go to,” says Will
