Premiere: Villagers Remixes Saint Etienne’s ‘Magpie Eyes’

And the results are ever-so-dreamy...

Each member of Saint Etienne grew up feeling the push/pull impact of suburban life.

This experience of being within sight of London's bright lights, but not able to touch them, seems to have marked them, have accentuated their own yearnings for music and creativity.

New album 'Home Counties' muses on this, a 16 track extrapolation of those themes that results in a fine and deeply British pop affair.

Lead cut 'Magpie Eyes' lifts a line from The Loft's 'Up The Hill Down The Slope', an early indie pop classic on Creation Records. The band's Pete Wiggs explains:

"I often find myself being so deep in thought that I'm not really listening to what my children are saying to me and I extrapolated guilty feelings over that into the story of someone who for a combination of personal ambition and commuter journey time ends up missing out on his kids growing up and not really knowing them or the 'Herberts' they might be hanging out with."

Villagers' Conor O'Brien has stepped in on remix duties, finding something universal in this highly localised tale of suburban ennui. Pete Wiggs is a fan, introducing the remix thus:

"Conor takes the song in unexpected directions, and I love where he's going – it's a mix of two halves with spaced out dubwise electronic explorations leading to a killer bass riff. New Villagers material eagerly awaited!"

Tune in now.

'Home Counties' will be released on June 2nd. Catch Saint Etienne at the following shows:

June
2 London Royal Festival Hall
3 Cardiff Tramshed
4 Birmingham Town Hall
6 Bexhill De La Warr Pavillion
8 Newcastle Sage
9 Edinburgh Queens Hall
10 Sheffield City Hall Ballroom
11 Manchester RNMC Concert Hall

For the latest Saint Etienne tickets click HERE.

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