Q1. Please talk to us about your latest release and the inspiration behind it. 

Only In Dreams was not written with a particular inspiration in mind, rather we just wanted to write a load of really good music. Our first album ‘Paradise Lost’ was far more conceptual and written with sounds and ideas in mind but having developed our sound over the last four years, we already knew where we wanted to go sound-wise this time around. ‘Only In Dreams’ was instead more about getting as many brilliant tracks together as possible and seeing where we were at the end of the process. The first album was a lot more writing, trialling and failing, really more about finding our sound. Since the first album, we have nearly put out an album's worth of material through singles so we were very much in the groove of writing music when we began the second album. It’s a continuation from ‘Paradise Lost’ that shows where we are today, in the present day.

In terms of the name, the concept had been lingering for a few years. When we were looking for album title names, very separately I came up with ‘Only In Dreams’ and Ben came up with ‘In Dreams’. Dreaming and the notion of dreams is central to the ideas behind the music, a dream-like state, otherworldly. We have also been big fans of space as an inspiration behind our music, so this all tied in subconsciously, evident in the fact that we both thought of very similar names for the album.

Q2. How is this album special compared to other tracks you’ve released throughout the career?

It’s special because it’s where we are at right now. It’s great to see all the work that we have put together, to sit back and see exactly what we are doing. It’s a result of a lot of hard work over the years, not just the past year. We only decided that we wanted to write an album at the beginning of last year and we hadn’t written any of the tracks for it. It’s been an incredibly quick and intense period where all we have done is write music, knowing that we wanted it completed by the end of the year. The first album took us three years to write, normally we write and when it’s done, it’s done. We took a whole new outlook on this album, we wanted to push ourselves and see what the pressure could bring out.

Q3. Can you pick 1 or 2 must-plays from the album and why would you pick them?

A personal favourite of mine, simply for how much work went into it, is ‘Show Me The Light’. I  feel like it’s a child I have brought up from infancy who has now flourished into a young man or woman. I have never spent so much time on a track in my life. The vocal was written in 2017, and whilst writing it there was a brief settling period where we focused on lots of other things and at the start of last year we started trying to write through it. So the track has been a year in the making and a year of constant effort. I probably walked away from it for a maximum of a couple of weeks as it was so intense at times.

‘ Take Me Home’ is so special too as I love the vocal. Jem and I are good friends and have worked and written together before. I wanted to do a vocal style track, like Imogen Heap’s ‘Hide and Seek’ where she uses a vocoder, that was the kind of vocal I imagined. Such tender beauty hasn’t been touched enough in our genre; there’s a certain beauty to the vocal that I really enjoy. For me, those two are less heavy hitters but the more musical ones are my personal favourites.

Q4. What do you feel has been your biggest achievement? 

I don’t know about achievements but there are definite milestones for us, moments, that we look back and say “this is why we do this”. The first time we did EDC Vegas was such an incredible experience, the biggest crowd that we had ever played to, it was such a surreal moment. A more recent achievement was when we did our own show for ‘Paradise Lost’. The show was a chance for us to have our own ticketed event, designed entirely by us with our own ideas, line up and concept, everything from top to bottom was our decision and that’s what you aim for when in this position - to try and make everything your brainchild. To be able to take that to Amsterdam and Perth, Australia - the fact we got it to the other side of the planet is something we are really happy about and would love to be able to build on that.

Additionally, growing up all I had ever wanted to do was write an album, so when the first album was created I was extremely satisfied as it takes an awful lot of work to put these things together, especially your first album. It has to be special.

Q5. Please leave a message for your fans in Japan.

Really looking forward to you guys hearing the album, we love touring Japan and can’t wait to get back! Thanks for having me!