Home Counties vinyl

The theme is in the title here, with the British pop legends - always unusually skilled at bringing a sense of place to their music as well as chronicling the strange specifics of British culture - using the geographical region as a springboard to a collection of bittersweet electronic-powered ditties whose melodic sweetness and melancholic aspect remain indelible regardless of context and concept, just as Sarah Cracknell's voice has never sounded so beguiling and evocative. Not merely the only one record this year to include Radio 4 announcements amongst its tracks, 'Home Counties' is a record with both head screwed on and heart-on-sleeve.