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‘Scatterbrain’ is the first album by a UK act to be overseen by US producer Mike Sapone (Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, Crime in Stereo…) who began work on the record with the band at his home studio in Bethpage, New York earlier this year. Mastered by Emily Lazar (Anti-Flag, Vampire Weekend, David Bowie…), the album shows an angrier side to the band’s music which harks back to the early days of 90’s Grunge. It has a brilliantly sinister, dirty and earthy quality without turning its back on the pop-sensibilities and catchy melodies that the band captured so well with their debut.

Speaking of the record frontman Murray Macleod says“If we didn’t sound different, I’d be worried”. The first album was – as for most new bands – something of a ‘greatest hits’ from the band’s early years, when they were still finding their feet. This time, the album was almost entirely written in a six-week break between tours and as a result paints a much more vibrant picture; a single body of work that makes sense; a proper album that it would seem blasphemous to shuffle.

The influences have changed too. “There are certain records that we’re all really into that have a similar sound – a balance of raw emotion and good production. ‘In Utero’ by Nirvana, ‘Pinkerton’ by Weezer, ‘Either/Or’ by Elliot Smith, ‘The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me’ by Brand New, ‘Nebraska’ by Bruce Springsteen and ‘For Emma Forever Ago’ by Bon Iver. That’s pretty much exactly how we wanted this record to sound.”

“There’s a lot of experimentation on this album,” says Macleod, who credits Sapone for encouraging and cultivating the creative process. “He came up with crazy ideas, and watching him come out with them, I didn’t feel worried about throwing an idea into the hat. It was almost like Mike was the fourth member of the band – there’s parts that would never happened, had we not worked with Mike.”

“This is an album lover’s album for the fans of the band. It’s not about a particular track or single and should be listened too as an entire body of work with an open mind. We hope everyone falls in love with it like we have.