Â鶹ԼÅÄ

They have just released their second album, 'Highlights', a follow-up to the punky and sometimes uncomfortably in-your-face debut, 'Abba Are The Enemy'. This time around, the collection is much more soulful and melodic, a sound that Tom says the band were specifically trying to achieve.

Tom Hingley and the Lovers

"We decided we wanted to make the second album as different as possible from the first one. 'Abba Are The Enemy' was created through sheer force of will, just was in a room knocking out tunes.

"We didn’t think about what was a good song or verse; we just went for it, because if we hadn’t, I don’t think it would have got made. But consequently, a lot of the instruments are fighting for prominence.

"This time, we wanted to make a consciously good album with great songs, but also, we been doing the band for seven years, so we wanted to make an artefact that would exist and, de facto, be the band when we aren’t together any more – not that there’s any plans to split up."

Tom says that more measured sound comes from the more relaxed approach that the five piece took to the creation of this album.

The approach also allowed Tom to consider his singing a lot more, which he says didn’t really happen with the first Lovers album.

"I think it’s true to say that some of the singing on 'Abba Are The Enemy' is some of the worst singing I’ve ever done on record. On this album, there’s a couple of loud bits, but for the most part, it’s quite held back.

"It’s about being part of a band, part of an ensemble, being in the background and being another flavour, rather than standing out there shouting at the moon like Ozzy Osbourne."

He may not be howling any more, but the fire in his lyrics still exists. 'Highlights' takes Tom’s usual writing meander through the modern world, covering everything from the credit crunch to religion – something that he sees as a natural approach for any songwriter.

Tom Hingley and the Lovers

"I enjoy reading and politics and art, and have an active imagination, so it’s quite difficult not to discuss so many topics. You’re lucky if you are an artist or musician, because you get to leave these artifacts behind you which you can point to and say 'that’s what we were doing then'.

"As a result, they inevitably talk about what is going on around you then, because that’s what you do as an artist, you suck up the zeitgeist."

Tucked away amongst the wider topics is the song 'Evergreen', a song which tackles Tom’s problem with the Mancunian suburb of Chorlton-cum-Hardy.

"It’s having a go at myself for not really being able to afford a house in Chorlton – 'I live in the OT, can’t afford M21 or M20, this is property jealousy'. It’s having a go at my inability to live in a pretentious area, but also I was considering the complacency of these places – I’d love to live in Chorlton, but it’s up its own a***, isn’t it?

Tom Hingley

"We met a guy the other day who couldn’t eat dairy or meat or tomatoes or potatoes, and I just thought, hold on, if we didn’t live in an era where we forcibly allow two thirds of the world to be starving or have the internal combustion engine, we couldn’t have all these dietary requirements!

"If we lived in a less rarefied society, these people couldn’t survive, because you can only have such extreme requirements with the existence of the M6 and loads of lorries driving up it at four o’clock in the morning. So it’s not tree-hugging, it’s tree-burning, isn’t it?

"The reality is that people who live in these enclaves seem to want to spend half their time living off alfalfa and bean sprouts and the rest of the time, inject themselves in their eyeballs with drugs. There’s irony going on there, isn’t there?"

In a music industry increasingly sanitised by reality shows and a need for sales, it’s good to know there are people like Tom Hingley still willing to sing about what they believe. The fact that the opinions come coupled with an album which can sit proudly next to any of his back catalogue only makes it sweeter.

Tom Hingley and the Lovers' Highlights is out now on New Memorabilia