Ian: My joy at 3

LIGHTNING MOOD..

IT’S come home already as far as Ian Broudie is concerned.

The Lightning Seeds founder is enjoying another chart revival of his hit Three Lions with David Baddiel and Frank Skinner thanks to the England team’s excellent Euro 2020 run.

But for years he steered clear of the anthem, telling me: “I’ve had an up and down relationship with the song, but I feel great about it at the moment.

“There was a point when it threatened to overshadow the band and everything else because it was such a phenomenon. It came back a few times, then with the last World Cup with that lovely feeling in the country again with the team playing well, I’ve loved it.”

Now Three Lions is heading back into the Top 10 with more than 2.6million streams this summer and Ian sees parallels with 25 years ago.

He told me: “It reminds me of 1996. But the world has changed so much since it was first out, so experiencing all the GIFS and comments on social media just lifts everybody up and brings people together.

“It’s a lovely feeling in the country again. It seems at that point that it’s everyone’s song, I used to feel uncomfortable performing it, especially without Frank and Dave, but now it’s been done so many times its everyone’s song.”

Baddiel and Skinner have been back to Wembley to watch England but Ian finds it harder: “It can be painful watching international football so maybe I haven’t always watched as much.”

And whatever happens to the English team at the Euros, The Lightning Seeds will be back with a long-mooted new album too.

Ian added: “It’s a strange thing – when you have the weight of your other work behind you, everyone remembers the best bits of your previous efforts.

“It’s almost like you wanna do it the same but different – that can trip you up a little bit.

“Once I put that out of my head, I realised what I do will always sounds like me and I’m just going into uncharted waters slightly.

“It’s a positive album but very thoughtful album as well.”