Everything's The Rush emerged on Monday to ecstatic reviews and the tour that has them at The Leadmill on Saturday is something of a hot ticket.

So what have this sometimes misunderstood indie pop outfit done that's so right?

Led by uplifting single Hooray, the record catches leading man Greg Gilbert's often angelic dulcets and band mates of 10 years Colin Fox, Rowly and sibling Aaron in sparkling form.

Part of that lies with the location of producer Youth (of U2, Verve, Macca and Embrace repute) and his home in the mountains above Granada, Spain.

"The 'live' room had a huge window with panoramic views over the Sierra Nevada range," explains Aaron (keyboards/vocals).

"When you're staring at a mountain in a room full of amps, you want to make a sound that's as big as the sky."

Hence, the sequel to 2006's You See Colours – home to hits Valentine and Hideaway – is something fresh, bright and big, even if sometimes flimsy lyrics hint at challenging times between albums.

Recorded over 20 days for new label Fiction, the childhood chums were seeking a bit of emotional rescue.


"One third of the album relates to the detritus of us getting out of our old deal and our private situations and the other two thirds the joy of discovering new things and the beauty of making music again," says Greg (vocals/guitar).

"A song like Hooray sounds really uplifting, but it's actually about me having O.C.D. It seemed too easy to write a maudlin song. For me, music is at it's best when it's fragile and human; people crave that connection."

Melody remains paramount, as does the intention to make music that "sends a shiver down your spine".

But all this didn't come without drama. "The last couple of years have been the biggest rollercoaster ride you've ever seen," says Aaron, who takes some of the vocal leads. "It's been sad and beautiful all at once. I've been rushed back from tour with nervous exhaustion, the works. But I wouldn't change a minute of it."

Not least when the fickle US market has taken to them and past gigs include a packed bullring (with people, not bulls) in Mexico.

"We've known each other from school. Because of that, we've got a really deep connection, which comes through in the music. We're a proper gang – we grew up together and we just do what we feel is right."
Signed to Rough Trade in 2004, Delays swiftly released debut album Faded Seaside Glamour and top 20 hits Long Time Coming and Nearer Than Heaven. You See Colours took them to a different level commercially and creatively but ended in a mutual split from the label.

Galvanised by that summer's festivals, the quartet put a self-financed tour together with the last of their cash and signed a new deal on the last night at Southampton's Guildhall.

"It's a cliché to say it," adds Greg, "but after all the hassles signing with Fiction was like that bit in the Wizard Of Oz where it goes from black and white to colour.

"In the last year I've come out of one really long relationship, met someone new and signed a new deal. Inevitably that's all going to end up in the music. We're almost back to the point we were at before we had a deal. We decided to throw it all in there – take the soul of what we do and explode it."

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