Saint Etienne takes fans on trip to ‘Home Counties’

Last year, the British trio Saint Etienne released one of the first post-Brexit albums. Titled “Home Counties,” after the circle of commuter communities that ring London, the album features characters daydreaming to escape the mundane with a dash of affection for suburban innocence.

“I grew up in the countryside, but by the time I was 13, I was on the train escaping to the city,” singer Sarah Cracknell said on a break from rehearsing for their Stateside tour, which stops at Brighton Music Hall on Sunday. “I was on my own headed to London at a much younger age than I let my own children ever go alone. (After secondary) school I couldn’t wait to be in London.”

Now Cracknell lives in an even more rural area than where she grew up. She says the move from the city has given her an appreciation for the quiet life. It also helped inform the lyrics on “Home Counties.”

“There are a lot of politics going on on the album that come from how most people think the home counties are a belt full of (expletive),” she said. While the songs don’t come close to love letters to the towns Cracknell and keyboardists Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs grew up in, there’s a dash of sympathy for the conservative enclaves. As Cracknell says, “There’s a mix of loathing and nostalgia.”

This year, Saint Etienne’s nostalgia runs deep. The current tour will feature a handful of songs from the 2017 release, but the band will also celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Good Humor” by doing the LP frontto-back in the first set.

“I think the two records go well together,” Cracknell said. “Sometimes we do more dance-y records, sometimes we do records with more loops to them, and then sometimes we do things with an organic vibe. Both these records have an organic vibe, and after touring ‘Home Counties’ with a bigger (eight-piece) touring band, we realized this lineup would be great for ‘Good Humor.’ ”

Despite all being in their 50s and retreating to a more idyllic country life, Saint Etienne seems to be as busy as ever. The three have already returned to the studio and plan to have a new EP out soon.

“We are doing some studio work now, but Bob and Pete are also busy,” she said. “Bob’s writing another book (in 2013 he published “Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop”) and Pete is getting a second degree in orchestration. I’m the more lazy one in the band so they have got to get me to work.”