Home Counties announce second album, Humdrum, produced by Al Doyle (Hot Chip)

"‘Humdrum’ is about feeling held back by saying the wrong thing in different situations, be it at work or in a social setting. It recalls cringing as your replay conversations in your head after they’ve happened and the frustration of coming up with better things to say in retrospect. It’s also about being jealous of people who talk shit, say nothing, and still seem to come out on top. It’s saying I want to be jammy as well, (‘I want dumb luck!’)," vocalist Will Harrison explains.

"This latent bitterness at people succeeding unjustly is a theme that arose in our debut too, which we’ve jokingly referenced in the Humdrum lyrics. Although it’s a seemingly unshakable feeling, the song also tried to take stock and reflect, realising you’re not even that sad about it and need to chill out (or ‘shut the fuck up!’)."

The band returned earlier this year with the release of "Spain" – which marked the first music to be heard since their 2024 debut album, Exactly As It Seems.

"We spent two weeks in Al's studio just off Brick Lane and had such a good time. We made full use of his incredible collection of vintage analogue synths. Al has a great instinct for pulling things back when needed to better serve the songs, and his input on arrangements really helped the tracks build in a more dynamic way," the band says of working with Al Doyle.

"For this new album, we gave ourselves time to experiment and to refine sounds in a way we had never done on previous releases. It also led to a more collaborative approach in the studio, with us performing collectively on the same synthesiser to capture more human performances from electronic instruments."

Home Counties recently announced a full UK headline tour for November and December, culminating in their biggest headline show to date at Scala, London.

Tracklist:

1. Take You Back
2. Humdrum
3. Spain
4. New Best Thing
5. When In Rome
6. Meet Me In The Flatroof
7. Ravelling
8. Cheeseball
9. Roundabout
10. Like That