Home Counties - Exactly As It Seems

In an age where the sheer breadth of buzzy new bands is at an all-time high, standing out from the pack can be a tricky one. When Home Counties first splashed into view with sharp-punk licks and scorching spoken-word hooks it saw them competing for the spotlight with a sea of other voices. Evolved, bigger and reborn - the Home Counties of now are an entirely different beast, with 'Exactly As It Seems' the ultimate feast of dancefloor bangers. It marks them out as a band finding their boldest voice while refusing to confine themselves to the expected.

At its core, 'Exactly As It Seems' is an album bursting with a character and attitude that everything else glues to. Making the everyday feel like gripping TV megashows, it places the feeling of release and joy at the heart of everything. The whipping 'Bethnal Green', hypnotic 'Uptight' and hip-thrusting 'Funk U Up' are immediate, while 'Push Comes To Shove' and the at-one-moment-salsa-vide-game-loading-screen-the-next-scatty-beat-breakdown of 'Wild Guess' are as unexpected as they are hooking from the first note.