Poullain: Well, there's four of us, so when we all kind of come alive at the same time, and light up at the same time, that feeling. Because then we all have what we call sometimes the hive mind. Have you heard that expression before? Of course you have, you're a journalist. So when it actually works, and we all light up, and hear the results of the writing time.  Given the kind of music we do, a lot of it is kind of what we call pissing around. But there's a certain way of doing it, in the right kind of way.

OMC: Is there one principal songwriter? Does everybody kind of bring ideas to the table? How does it work for you guys?

Poullain: We keep as open as we can. We try to keep a meritocracy. Well, of course, Justin and Dan (Hawkins), in the end, do more, for sure. And Justin does the vast majority of the lyrics. But he is open to people coming up with titles and the occasional line here and there, and ideas. It's very important to do that, really. If it gets too rigid, then I think the work suffers.

OMC: I think that you can hear different influences and styles on this record. There's some stuff that sounds like it's more straight-ahead rock. There's some stuff that sounds kind of almost in, like, an Americana realm, and then sometimes there's an old-school kind of singer-songwriter realm, too. Was there anything that surprised you guys when it came to making the record? Did anybody have an idea that just was like, "whoa, I didn't think we were gonna be doing that"?

Poullain: Well, I think you touched on it. That is actually what we try to do. We try to surprise each other, and ourselves as well, you know? That's what you have to do, really, when you're eight or nine albums in. You have to look for the liaison d’être, otherwise, why are you doing it?

That's what's gone wrong with rock music. It's become generic. We all kind of know that. The vocabulary is sometimes a bit outdated, but Justin's very good at that. Refreshing the rock vocabulary and doing it in a very quintessential English and satirical way, sometimes, as well, with his kind of humor. That humor is definitely what makes us different. It's not funny ha-ha, but it's embracing the ridiculous.

OMC: I think that's become the personality of the band very much so, is that you guys can do that sort of tongue-in-cheek thing, but still make a great album that's going to be just as entertaining, and it doesn't feel like a parody of itself, you know?

Poullain: We try to, yeah. Self-reference is okay, but you don't want to do it too much.

OMC: When that translates to the live show, because you do have as many albums as you do, how does that work for you guys? Is that, again, a meritocracy?

Poullain: It's an interesting thing, really, because we know we're on that stage, and we're so used to seeing the reaction, and the truth is in how the crowd kind of react to something. It's good if they're surprised, for example. They don't have to be just singing along or clapping along. But if the crowd are actually thinking there's something going on here, engaged, then it gives us a good idea that we're on the right path. The worst thing is to be phoning it in, so to speak. That's what we're trying to avoid. Whatever feels like the opposite of phoning it in, that dictates the set list.

OMC: I don't think anybody would ever accuse The Darkness of phoning it in. I've seen you guys live before. I do want to know, at this point, because you've been on tons of tours, what is the essential thing for you that you need to have on tour with you? It could be anything as small as a pillow from home, or something you need to have backstage.

Poullain: Well, I do like those stretchy workout things, you know? The heavy-duty rubber things, but with the handles? I can do a workout, and I do it because I can't stand gyms. So I want to do the workout in my room, or the dressing room in a small space. But now I've discovered the thing that's all over Instagram at the moment is the Tai Chi men's workout thing.

There's always been that Qigong, and those Chinese kind of Tai Chi kind of things, which have been more kind of slow and kind of just stretching, bbut now they have one which is more cardiovascular, more intense. Certainly, you're getting the best of both worlds. So that's great for me. It means that I can replace the yoga and the gym with one workout.

You can catch The Darkness with Mark Daly on Saturday night at The Rave. Tickets are available via The Rave website.