"I think we've made the best album that we've ever made," says James Skelly. "I think it has to be. Or there's no reason for anybody to listen to it."

Two facts to immediately consider: 1) This is the first album they have made without Bill Ryder Jones, who left the band in January of 2008; 2) This is the first album they have made post- their 'Singles Collection' of September of that year - a chance to stop and take stock, then draw a line under what has been done and set sights on the future.

"If we never did the 'Greatest Hits' thing, the album wouldn't be as good. So it was definitely a part of it," says James. "Going back to all those tunes made you realise, 'Yeah we're a great band, one of the best out there.' It cleared space in our heads and made us feel really positive about the future. We did some new songs for that release, which we produced ourselves, and that gave us loads of confidence to go in do this record. The whole thing was really positive for us."

"You can definitely hear that on this one," adds Ian (Skelly). "It was a great experience for us, everyone really positive, and pulling in the same direction. With the last two albums, there are great songs on them, but there was an underlying sadness as well."

"Like, on 'The Invisible Invasion', Bill wasn't around for a bit," continues Nick Power. "So then 'Roots & Echoes' was us trying to become a band again, really. Whereas this time everyone was pulling in the same direction and focused. "

James: "We'll always reflect where we are as a band. You can't really blag it. You just are what you are."