Home Counties share new single ‘White Shirt / Clean Shirt’

Home Counties have returned with new single White Shirt / Clean Shirt. The second of two new self-produced singles, it follows Modern Yuppies released in January, and the band’s widely praised 2020 debut EP ‘Redevelopment’. Listen to White Shirt / Clean Shirt via SoundCloud below.

The band take a sharp left-turn on White Shirt / Clean Shirt, upping the tempo and storming forwards with a hip-wriggling, eccentric examination of office work. Building on the playful post-funk hooks present in Modern Yuppies, Home Counties continue to show they’re a band who are not afraid to colour outside the lines, both sonically and lyrically.

Singer Will Harrison said: “White Shirt / Clean Shirt began life as a guitar-orientated number that was a staple of our live set last year at our first shows, but then we had sort of fell out of love with it. Through lockdown, as we started experimenting more heavily with synthesisers and drum machines; we reworked the song with these new influences and it found a new lease of life.”

“The two singles are linked lyrically, both looking at working life under contemporary capitalism. ‘Yuppies’ was written about the destructive mentality of middle-class professionals – constantly wanting more success, more money and more consumer goods. ’White Shirt / Clean Shirt’ looks at the less aspirational, and more universal reality of office work. It voices that feeling of losing your sense of self and place as you go into work, dressed uniformly in a Next suit, in an indistinguishable space, staring at another spreadsheet. It’s also got a bit of a ‘how did I get here?’ sentiment, being at work thinking about what more aspirational (or more expensively educated) people might be doing. Ultimately, it voices a feeling of having ‘learnt to fall’, rather than taught to succeed – sinking into the safety net of unfulfilling white collar work.”

Since forming in January 2020, Home Counties have cemented themselves as a key act to watch, with radio support from Jack Saunders, Huw Stephens (BBC Radio 1), Steve Lamacq, Amy Lame, Tom Robinson (BBC 6Music) and Matt Wilkinson (Beats 1), along with press support from DIY Magazine, Loud & Quiet, NME, Dork Magazine, Clash Magazine, The Line Of Best Fit, So Young Magazine, YUCK, The Rodeo, Gigwise and more. 

Both Modern Yuppies and White Shirt / Clean Shirt are exciting first glimpses of a band evolving beyond their indie roots. Combining their aptness for angular guitar work with a more flamboyant sonic vision, the band’s next steps will see them begin work on their second EP, due for release in the autumn.

Home Counties are: Will Harrison (vocals/guitar), Conor Kearney (guitar/vocals), Barn Peiser Pepin (synth/percussion/vocals), Sam Woodroffe (bass/synth) and Dan Hearn (drums).

Home Counties’ new single White Shirt / Clean Shirt is out now via Alcopop! Records.

Upcoming live date
June 7th – 100 Club, London (Sold Out)