I like the idea of a record being more than one thing emotionally - human beings go through so many emotions in one day, and I like those things sitting next to each other.

My dissertation was on the idea of feminine-themed women's magazines, so like how the ideal woman is put across by women's magazines.

A good song to one person could just be something mediocre to somebody else. It's always strange thinking about how songs connect with people.

It was always very important for us that we presented ourselves as a band, because it's a three-part writing process and it's a three-part decision making process, it's not two producer guys and a girl that sings the songs. It's startling how many people make that assumption.

No matter how many people try, no matter how many fancy songwriters in Los Angeles try to break it down to a formula... to an extent, there isn't a science to writing great songs, I suppose. For me, it's always about melody - it doesn't matter what genre of music you're writing, if there's a strong melodic thing somewhere, whether that's in a vocal or in a guitar part or a sample. Something that sticks in your brain, that seems to be something that works.

I try not to say exactly what songs are about sometimes, because I feel like it ruins it for people.

Everyone's [ me, Iain Cook and Martin Doherty] equally involved in all the writing. Normally we'll start with a sample or a drumbeat, or a synth sound or something like that, and that will spark the initial idea. And then we'll write an instrumental sketch of a song, and then we put on a nonsense vocal melody, which is always my favourite bit because it obviously sounds amazing.