I'm having a friendly chat to singer-guitarist-lyricist Vincent Giarruso, who addition to the above has found time to publish a collection of lyrics and writing from Rushall Station and other albums. I ask him what it's like being independent again, suggesting it must be lot less constrictive and more freeing than being on a major.

Vincent agrees, "It is, but we don't have people around us that are telling us what's happening. We're so busy, just trying to work out what's going on, which is hard. But on the other hand there's a lot of freedom, we can record when we feel like it, which we've never had before."

Indeed, the turnaround time on the new album, which was recorded in January (in just 10 days) and released in April, would be almost unheard for a major label.

"Yeah, and that was part of the reason why we left, because it was taking so long to get our records out. One took 2 years and another 18 months. By the time we get to our fifth album we'll just sort of be starting, you know? I want to get a body of work behind us. Now we can just do it (record), when the songs are ready." he says.

Strange release dates have are not unknown for the band, especially with their second LP Leaves me Blind, which was released in England before anywhere else, on 4AD's sister label Guernica. Vincent explains the reason behind this

"Ivo (the head of 4AD) was in Australia and we managed to get him a tape of the finished album, which he loved, and he put it out within a few months. It was only a one album deal but it was great to do it."

One can't help but feel that 4AD would be an ideal home for The Lovers, a band who freely acknowledge the UK’s punk and post-punk guitar acts as being major influences on their sound. Bands like Joy Division, New Order, Gang of Four, and later in that decade etheral noise merchants such as My Bloody Valentine, Spacemen 3 and Spiritualised. I ask Vincent if he likes much current UK music, such as the britpop-merry-go-round or the whole Blur vs Oasis drama.

" Not really. Lately with a lot of bands I can't get past the hype factor. I'm just very wary of that sort of stuff .I think people who are serious about music and approach it in a critical way can see past the hype and marketing. Blur have got some great songs, and so do Oasis, although I think an entire album from either band is unbearable. There's no sort of progression, there's no sense of growing in it, it's all over the place...but they have a few songs that stick out which become hits." he continues with a more positive slant, "I think Stereolab's new album is fantastic. It's really beautiful, and very funny. Pulp are good too. They're into marketing, but it's their own. I think with other bands you can tell when other people are doing it. And those people are usually business, advertising people."

Never a band to be afraid of progression or technology, I enquire if Vincent and fellow bandmates,[Maurice Argiro (bass), Derek J Yuen (drums) and Glenn Bennie (guitar)] are happy with the current guitar to keyboard ratio:

"Well it's something we've always sort of had. I think that Glenn's guitar playing and his guitar tunings, are the main driving force behind the band. But we're just suckers for technology in a sense. I hate recordings that just sound like the band; they're kind of okay but you listen to them and think that if the band experimented a bit here and there, they could've made it better. A lot of the stuff that we play around with is like that. You know - What happens when you merge two very different things? We often mix up something that is very computer based with old equipment."

Like the sequencer start of "In My Head"?

"Yeah, and that has sequencer right through, but it has a really organic sound behind it - drums, bass and guitar. We like that mixture, it develops its own tension."

On that note, I'll leave the final word to Vincent (from the Polydor Bio):

"We're trying to make something that's really evocative and cerebral. Our music works on heaps of levels, but we kind of want it to work on the head more than on the body. When we get it right I think it's very much like a drug trip. It can be really heady and spacey, and you can really let yourself go."