am 2. juni wird das neue album -home counties- der northern soul-legende saint etienne via heavenly recordings als cd, 2lp und digital erscheinen. für das coverartwork des insgesamt neunzehn stücke umfassenden werks zeigt sich der englische künstler scott king verantwortlich. das album wurde von shawn lee (young gun silver fox), unter mithilfe von augustus (kero kero bonito), carwyn ellis (colorama, edwyn collins), robin bennett (the dreaming spires), richard x (girls on top / black melody) und dem langjährigen mitstreiter gerard johnson (denim, yes) produziert und von sarah, bob und pete innerhalb von sechs wochen in london eingespielt und aufgenommen.

next up on aficionado, is something a little bit different…bendith are a collaborative welsh four piece, comprising of carwyn ellis from colorama (who recorded hapus for ‘nado back in 2012) and elan, marged and gwilym rhys from plu. following the folk-pop vein of bendith’s album released in october 2016, the ep includes 3 brand new tracks and two tracks - ‘dinas’ and ‘mis mehifin’ from the self-titled album.two of the new songs include welsh language adaptations of old classics, ‘can am gariad’ is a version of the lesley duncan tune, ‘love song’, specially requested by aficionado recordings’ moonboots, who obsessively collects versions of this song. ‘hwiangerdd takeda’ is a version of the traditional japanese song, ‘takeda lullaby’ and is inspired by the 1969 rendition by akai tori, the vocal folk group from japan. bookending the ep is ‘dan glo’, a lovely and mystical music-box demo instrumental. all tracks retain the stunning vocal harmonies and instrumental arrangements which have marked out bendith as a unique and very special musical prospect.