Reasons to be Cheerful in 2021: Home Counties and Courting

By Jon Milton

What can we expect from bright young things Home Counties and Courting in 2021? New music next week from Home Counties and an EP from Courting in April for a start!

Both bands stood out as ones to watch last year and found their way into the Top 10 of our Festive Fifty, and are beginning the new year very much on the front foot.

Home Counties

Home Counties released their first single ‘Redevelopment’ in March last year, around the time of lockdown. Redevelopment was a cracking introduction to the band and helped them to secure a deal with Alcopop Records. Their follow up single, the excellent ‘Dad Bod’ followed in July with a full EP landing in September in both digital and physical formats.

What were your highlight(s) of 2020?

We started Home Counties nearly a year ago to the day, and it didn’t really pan out the way we expected with Covid and all. We did manage to get in some gigs, on tour with Hotel Lux up north and some dates with Ditz in February. These shows were pretty formative in solidifying the band and line-up, as well as starting to write some more songs.

We’re actually pretty proud that despite everything, our debut single got a fair amount of airplay on Radio 1 and 6 Music and we soon signed to Alcopop Records. As things started to loosen up during the Summer we briefly came out of hibernation to play a socially distanced show at The Victoria in East London. That was a pretty special day - the turnout was big and we were celebrating the EP release in the sunshine with cold beers in-hand. It reminded us how much we love playing for a crowd.

When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats? 

We have a new single called ‘Modern Yuppies’ out on Tuesday (12th January). It’s pretty different to everything on ‘Redevelopment EP’. We couldn’t find a way to get back in the studio as a five-piece so it’s a self-produced home-recording, with drum machines and synths taking the centre over the typical guitar-band setup.

‘Redevelopment EP’ wasn’t a drastic departure from the music we made when we were known as Haze but we’re certainly planning on moving further away from that and being a little more experimental… I think this is a good first taste of what’s to come on our next EP.

Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up?  

We were super excited to be playing the 100 Club in mid January to celebrate the release of ‘Modern Yuppies’. The government ordered the venues to close again about 3 hours after we announced the show, so that was that over.

But we will absolutely be rescheduling, probably for late March. Details to follow.

Any festival appearances planned? 

We were booked in to play at a fair few festivals last summer which obviously were cancelled. We're hopeful that we'll be invited to play the 2021 editions instead, but like the rest of the music industry, we're still in the dark,  eagerly but optimistically awaiting some news about when festivals can return. We’ll be doing everything in our power to avoid another Summer of live streams from our living room.

What are your hopes for the band in 2021? 

Honestly, right now we just want to be back on a stage together. We haven’t actually been in a room together as a full band since...July i think. We can’t wait to be in a position to be back in a van and playing sweaty basement venues. We also have a bunch of news songs ready to be recorded so we’ll certainly be heading back into the studio as soon as we possibly can. 

Courting

Courting went from strength to strength in 2020, turning heads last January with the anthemic ‘Football’ then latterly releasing David Byrne’s Badside and Popshop, both of which displayed their growing maturity as songwriters.
 
Their active use of social media (particularly twitter) has helped them a steady following and build a profile as an approachable bunch of lads that make great music, and they are clearly very ambitious, which should see them just get bigger and better in 2021.    

What were your highlight(s) of 2020?

Playing the few gigs that we were allowed to, playing the DIY Hello show was a nice respite from a year of boredom. Recording our debut EP was a lot of fun too. 

When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats?  

‘Grand National’ comes out on April 9th on Digital and Vinyl

Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up?  

SO many. But you’re going to have to wait and see. As of now though we’re playing futurama and dark arts. 

Any festival appearances planned? 
 
Quite a few depending on the situation. 

What are your hopes for the band in 2021? 
 
World domination / Glastonbury legend slot / Household name / Knighthood