Big Black Cloud

That one's about fear and paranoia – people seem to be scared of more and more things than they used to be. People in authority have always used fear as a way to legitimise themselves; it's a time-honoured way of ruling people, to more or less say, 'The sky is falling, but if you support me, I'll make you safe and keep your children safe.' What we don't hear is people being inspiring; there's more fear-mongering than there is inspiration.

— interview with Record Collector (UK), Feb. 2019

Fabulously Absolute

This is a song for anyone like me who's sick and tired of people who are very eager to tell you what's right and what's wrong. Everyone agrees that society is very divided but everyone thinks it's the other side's fault. You know, that kind of thing makes me crazy. This is called 'Fabulously Absolute'.

— in concert in Calgary (CA), 27 July 2018

It's kind of about the sort of people who are absolutely convinced that they know what's right and what's wrong and what's good and what's bad and... and how fucking annoying they are!

— in concert in Providence, RI (US), 9 July 2018

Dave

I grew up in Portsmouth on the south coast of England. There are so many people called Dave, it's very funny. And most of them are my age. I was thinking partly about a guy I met years ago in a pub in Portsmouth. He was talking about a job offer in Germany. In the song I changed that to Spain, cause it worked better with the lyrics. But that guy got homesick before he even left. So he never went. Then one of my friends said: 'Oh, that guy! He's never been out of Portsmouth in his life.' (laughs) So that was my inspiration for this song. I think there are a lot of people like that. People no one notices, no one ever hears about; they never go anywhere. But, you know, maybe they're very happy. And in some way I envy this character.

— interview with Bayerischer Rundfunk (DE), 22 Jan. 2019

I can't believe how many people of my age group are called Dave in Portsmouth – maybe all over the country, I don't know. There was an epidemic of Daves. At some point it sort of burned itself out – we reached peak Dave. Dave is in a similar vein to Home Town, but there are some different ideas in it: are you better off staying in one place or travelling all the time, for instance? Who has really got the better life?

— interview with Record Collector (UK), Feb. 2019

Strange Land

That's partly about New York. When I lived there in the Eighties, I loved it. I still visit the city regularly, but now it feels so different. Everything that was familiar to me is gone. There are other things in its place that I don't know at all. That is why I often feel disconnected from my surroundings, a wandering ghost.
    And you could say that 'Strange Land' is also about getting older. But there are no feelings of nostalgia bubbling up. I mean, I have vivid memories of that time, but I don't feel like I'm stuck in the past. That is not the case. A song like 'Strange Land' is an observation that anyone can make at some point. You notice that as you get older, the changes in your environment become more extreme and strange. That's why for me it's a song that is very much about the now. And I only want to write songs that are honest from my current perspective, not mine as a twenty-year-old. That would be nostalgic and even a bit ridiculous.

— interview with De Volkskrant (NL), 11 Jan. 2019

Friend Better

It's a celebration of friendship, and it's also saying that it's pretty much the most important thing we've got. It's more important, I think, than romantic love or sex – not that those aren't important things, and if you can get all of the above at the same time, then good luck to you! But the best marriages, for instance, end up as friendships. So that's why the song says: 'lover good, friend better.' It could be the same person. You never know.

— interview on Minnesota Public Radio (US), 16 Feb. 2019

Fool

It's like a party in a song, and you never quite know what is going to happen next. I threw in everything but the kitchen sink, everything that seemed silly.

— interview with Record Collector (UK), Feb. 2019

I imagine this character, the fool, as the personification of humour. And he's like a superhero. He's got this power to make people laugh and he's invulnerable. You can't kill him, and he lives forever. He's never gonna go away, at least I hope not. Every totalitarian regime has tried to suppress humour, because tyrants can't bear to be laughed at, but you can't stop it in the end. I think it's one of the most amazing things about human beings.

— quoted on billboard.com, 8 Jan. 2019

Alchemy

It's about magic and art. I wanted to write something that could have been written for a romantic film from the Sixties, something like John Barry or Henry Mancini might have done. I had images in my head of those glamorous cinemas where heavy curtains opened and it felt magical when the film started. I wasn't sure at first if it would fit this band, but it works, also live.

— interview with Stuttgarter Zeitung (DE), 19 Jan. 2019

I had a certain atmosphere in mind and I wanted to do something like I imagined a theme tune for an imaginary James Bond movie or something like this. You know, the opening credits, very lush and kind of like old movie music. The song is really about the magic of any kind of art, whichever kind of art moves you, because it refers to movies, to music, to dance. And I really like this idea of the artist being like an alchemist who can create magic out of ordinary things.

— interview with Bremen Zwei (DE), 26 Jan. 2019