ÔÇÿYou Can Do BetterÔÇÖ was released just over a week ago now. How does it feel to finally get it out there?┬á
It feels excellent. Like, now we can back up the last few months of boasting about it, and not worry about playing songs no-one knows.

Was producing a follow up to the success that was ÔÇÿJohnny Foreigner vs EverythingÔÇÖ a worry for you? YouÔÇÖve mentioned that there was the concern of making a ÔÇÿreissued biography with an extra chapter tagged on;ÔÇÖ in your eyes, how have you progressed?
That was very much a lyrical problem I was having; the music always comes naturally and that seems more important and less boring than trying to consciously ÔÇ£advanceÔÇØ our sound. So, in that sense there is no progress and if people think weÔÇÖre a messy band with badly enunciated vocals and too much dynamics, this isnÔÇÖt gonna change that. But yeah, in terms of words, I sort of invented ÔÇÿalternate universe meÔÇÖ, that could make decisions I wouldnÔÇÖt/havenÔÇÖt, and that made it way easier to write. Pulling truth from fiction, instead of just repeating the same stories.

YouÔÇÖve spoken about taking a lot longer recording this record than your previous ones. What that a conscious decision, or just something that kind of happened?
More mixing than recording; we didnÔÇÖt really account for having two guitars to balance. So that just kind of happened, I guess, but also it seemed more important this time round to get everything as perfect-sounding as we could.

Tell us about the map you created to go with ÔÇÿYou Can Do Better,ÔÇÖ whatÔÇÖs the story behind it?
The map is of a generic/imaginary/fictional city. The first record we made was so acutely autobiographical that we made a Google Map of it; on a personal level I was pretty comfortable with being so open with my life since most of the events in the songs occurred years ago. Now IÔÇÖve kinda caught up with myself and IÔÇÖm not so easy about displaying my current life. We had the vague idea to do a map in the middle of the year, and when I started writing the lyrics it made a lot more sense; like we were mapping out the alternate universe from the songs.

Is having a piece of art, like the map and the ÔÇÿVs EverythingÔÇÖ book, to accompany your records something you do to compliment the music or as a completely separate artistic move?
Definitely a complementary thing. I think itÔÇÖs as much a reaction against 21st century internet/mp3 culture; thereÔÇÖs something perverse in our minds thatÔÇÖs like, ÔÇÿno-one cares about physical product like they used to, so lets make some insane huge physical productÔÇÖ.

Finally, whatÔÇÖs coming up next for you guys?
Who knows… plans is boring. WeÔÇÖre looking lustfully at South Africa, that would be a nice place to go this yearÔǪ