Interview Home Counties: “The lyrics on ‘Humdrum’ deflect less, and don’t hide behind the abstract”

Hey guys! How are you doing? How have the past couple months treated you?
Will Harrison: Hey - we’re great thanks! It’s been a hectic few months leading up to the release - gigging and rehearsing for both the stripped back in-stores and the headline tour - as well as all the other admin that comes with releasing an album, and alongside working full-time day jobs.

Lois Kelly: Yep, we’ve been super-duper busy but it’s been so fun finally getting the album out to the world and fleshing out the songs live!

Congratulations on the release of ‘Humdrum’! How does it feel to have it out? Do you tend to view your projects differently before and after their release, after seeing the feedback from fans and audiences? 
WH: Thanks! It feels great to have finally released it, and to see that people are connecting to it so much. We’re midway through our stripped-back in-store tour now, which started immediately after the album dropped. It’s been amazing chatting to people at the shows and hearing which tracks are everyone’s favourites - that helps alleviate some of that background dread you get pre-release. It’s also been mad seeing people singing along to songs that came out so recently - quite surreal really! I don’t think it changes our fundamental view of the project from pre-release, as we were all really proud of the record already, but getting good feedback is certainly affirming.

LK: Second albums are notoriously supposed to be more difficult to succeed with than a debut, but this record feels like a step forward from our last. It’s been lovely being in the record stores and hearing that other people are enjoying it as much as we enjoyed making it.

‘Humdrum’’s overall sound is so fun - inherently danceable and groovy, while also carrying on the humour and witty songwriting from your debut. Do you draw on a lot of personal experiences for this style of writing, or do you view your approach as more external social commentary? 
WH: I think the main shift in the lyrical approach from our debut to ‘Humdrum’ has been from looking out to in; it’s definitely a lot more of a personal record, and is less framed within a sort of socio-economic critique. Although this wasn’t intentional, a lot of the songs ended up centering communication and everyday anxieties, while ‘Exactly As It Seems’ was explicitly situated around being in London in your early-twenties.

There are still songs which have something to say about wider society, but I think they are told in a more personal way too - like ‘Meet Me In The Flat Roof’, which is half comment on gentrification, and half self-critique of our role in and attitudes towards it. In this way, I think the lyrics on ‘Humdrum’ deflect less, and don’t hide behind the abstract.

LK: This album feels more like a reflection on our thoughts and feelings as friends, than an outward commentary of society. I feel like our strong friendship group allows us to talk openly with each other about a lot of these themes, while also being very keen for a night of terrible karaoke and dancing like an uncle at a family wedding. We’re very lucky to be a band embedded in a group of wonderful friends, and I feel our music is a reflection of that in lots of ways.

Who are your main sources of inspiration for your sound?
WH: It’s quite a mixed bag. Most obviously, we’re heavily indebted to ‘80s new wave and post-punk, particularly Talking Heads, as well as a lot of 2000s revival - especially LCD Soundsystem. We are also inspired by electroclash - particularly Peaches - in the use of trashy sounding electronics.

People might not first hear it when listening to us, but ‘00s pop is a big one too, especially Girls Aloud and Sugababes. The way we approach melody, particularly Lois’s approach to harmonies, comes from our love of those bands. I saw both of them last year and was blown away - their unpretentious and unashamedly fun energy is something we’re drawn to, on top of the quality pop songwriting.

‘Spain’ was the first track written for the album, and laid the foundations for what would become ‘Humdrum’. What was the key moment you decided that the music you were working on would become an album? Did it come organically, or was it more of an active decision?
WH: I don’t think there was ever any doubt in us that we would want to do another album after the debut, as the format is what we’re all most drawn to as listeners. We were also keen to follow up the debut pretty quickly, trying to not lose creative momentum. ‘Spain’ definitely set the tone for the rest of the demos that came, and quickly inspired the rest, which felt really organic, and I think gave the record a coherency which we were looking to achieve.

LK: We were actually discussing the other day if we would return to EPs, but as Will said, we are so drawn to albums as listeners I think it would be odd to not be writing music as a full project. ‘Spain’ is a special track for me, as it was the first we listened to in full after it was all recorded. We were sitting in Al [Doyle]’s studio, blaring it out, and I just couldn’t help but sit there and grin. It set the tone for the rest of the recording sessions and made me so excited for what was to come.

Looking at both of your LPs side by side, were there any key differences in the creative process in terms of production and songwriting? If so, how?
WH: The creative process was very different to the debut, yeah. We recorded ‘Exactly As It Seems’ over the space of a year, going to the studio most nights after work to record it ourselves, drawing on songs often a few years older. It led to a lot of tinkering, constantly revisiting what we had said were finished songs and changing things, which we were keen to avoid when going into the next record.

‘Humdrum’ was written over a few months in Summer 2024 and recorded over two weeks in October, which was really refreshing and kept things exciting. It also helped the songs feel naturally more cohesive I think, just from all having come to life over the relatively short period. I think it also meant that we were less inclined to go maximalist from revisiting too much, being naturally happier with more refined and sparser arrangements.

LK: I love the melodies in this record, and whenever Conor and I got the chance we were throwing harmonies at it left, right and center. And of those that made the final cut, they’re some of my favourite elements of the music, popping up in small ways like the bridge of ‘Roundabout’, and then in big ways like ‘Meet Me In The Flat Roof’. Lots of fun to record, but more difficult to execute live!

How was it to work with a hero in Al Doyle? What did the collaboration with him bring to the record?
WH: It was an amazing experience; a true privilege to work with someone we all respect so much. LCD and Hot Chip are two of our favourite bands. We couldn’t really believe he wanted to make the album with us at first, but we immediately fell into a great working relationship. Al was great at helping us make the record dancier, having a natural ability to make things groove more. He also helped a lot with keeping things interesting with dynamics and arrangements over the longer songs, particularly ‘When In Rome’ and ‘Meet Me In The Flat Roof’, which are some of the longest songs we’ve ever done. His collection and knowledge of synthesisers was also fundamental to bringing a more nuanced electronic sound to the record, moving away from the tackier and wackier synth sounds of our debut. Generally, his very quick and instinctive way of working made it an exciting atmosphere in the studio; an atmosphere of not getting bogged down, and instead focusing on capturing fun moments.

LK: Thank you Al!

You’re heading out on a hefty tour at the end of this year, culminating at a huge London headline at Scala! How are you feeling about it? Are there any standout changes from past shows that people should expect from these upcoming ones?
WH: We can’t wait! Touring is our favourite bit of being in a band; it’s the reason we do it. Scala is a bit daunting, and I think we’ll remain scared until we hit the stage, but generally we’re full of beans. We’ve been working on the tour set more than ever before, thinking more intentionally about the shape and progression of the set, so we hope it pays off. It’s quite new to us having so many songs to choose from… with two albums and a couple of EPs under our belts, setlist construction is more of a debate. We’ll still be playing all the bangers, but with a few surprises thrown in - you’ll have to come find out!

LK: SO EXCITED LET’S GOOOOOO!!!

Do you consider the live performance side of your music when you’re in the early stages of writing and production?
WH: There are definitely moments while writing when we think ‘this is going to hit big’, but generally we don’t think about it. It’s probably something we should do more! We typically write sitting around a laptop or drum machine with more of a dance music approach, rather than jamming in a practice room. This leads us to create parts which are impossible to play, which we then have to struggle to re-learn in the lead up to the tour… But it’s fun to have these challenges, and often results in us changing things up live to create new versions of songs, which keeps things exciting.

Looking ahead post-tour, what can we expect from Home Counties? Are there any new genres, themes, or projects you want to venture into?
WH: We’ll be doing a load more gigs in some places we’ve never been, so we’re buzzing to play ‘Humdrum’ to new audiences. We’re not sure what’s next in terms of projects, but we’re not in so much of a rush this time around. It can feel like you spend so long on an album campaign, tour it, and then it’s suddenly over and you start again. We will always be working on new music, in varying degrees of seriousness, but I think it’s okay if it takes a little more time to materialise into whatever it will be.

‘Humdrum’ is out now via Submarine Cat Records. 

Tags: Features, Interviews, Home Counties