I think there are a few different themes running through the record. It's definitely not anything close to being a concept album. I felt like in some ways 'Under The Iron Sea' was almost a concept album in that it had that sort of under the sea darkness and I felt like it occupied a particular space throughout the record really. And this one is much more varied.
There are themes that are repeated; things about the 21st century obsession with fame and being a star, y'know everyone trying to be a star and wanting to like that sort of 15 minutes of fame thing. But then on the other hand one of the other themes is much more about war, I suppose, but trying to approach that from a very sympathetic, human point of view. Those two themes, for example, don't really overlap or particularly y'know... one of them in a way is quite frivolous and the other is obviously quite a fundamental, human and very serious thing. So I don't feel like there's one story on this record, I feel like it's a multi-coloured story.
What I hope with this record is that every song has a sense of hope to it. I feel like even the songs that are not necessarily all sunny and positive still have the kind of human sympathy and positivity to them. I hope that every song is uplifting and inspiring and positive, even if it's trying to talk about something which is not necessarily particularly happy. And for me a lot of my favourite songs are like that. I don't think a record has to leave you feeling thoroughly bleak and depressed in order for it to be profound and touching.
I definitely feel like this record is much more uplifting and much more exciting and has this hugely positive energy to every song. And I think that the overall record will have that same effect.
