Maybe not champions of the world, but doing just fine...
stuff, then we had a bit of a drop in the middle period of the band when it all went a bit wrong... and then the last few years it’s gone really well, better than ever in a lot of ways.
‘I kind of think there are fans who got on board in the last few years who aren’t aware of the earlier stuff, and maybe there are some older fans who haven’t engaged with the more recent material, so it’s a chance to pool all of that together really.
‘Stylistically they jump around a lot, so it’s a chance to celebrate the first phase of the band and still being around, and to draw a line under it because we’re moving on to something that‘s pretty mental in the new year.’
Jon is a bit vague about their future plans, saying: ‘You’ll have to wait until the new year,’ to hear more about it, but he does tease us with this: ‘We’ve been working with the University of Sheffield on some artificial intelligence stuff which is a bit bonkers and very futuristic, so I wanted to end this first period of the band in a nice way – have a party and give everyone a good time and move on.’ The best of is split into two discs: Uppers and Downers. ‘I’m a bit like that as a person – I’m either full of beans and really enthusiastic, or I’m like, “Woe is me, the end is nigh”. It reflects the two halves of my brain. ‘When we play live we do play a few ballads, but if you only see us at festivals, you’ll probably think we’re one of those bands that just makes everyone jump up and down and go nuts. ‘We are that band too, but there’s also something else to us as well. Some of the ballads may be a bit lesser known, but it’s good to let people know more about that side too. ‘As much as I love being that band which makes festivals bounce, it’s good to have a bit of balladry, isn’t it? I don’t want people to think I’m a onetrick pony, I’ve got a lot of strings to my bow.’
It’s a chance to celebrate the first phase of the band