“It was a very different song when we started playing it. It was probably ambitious as a first recording because it’s not a simple song — it’s got a lot of twists and turns. But the aim is to produce something that sounds effortless, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and that it’s always existed like that. That’s the art of record making.”

“Nick came up with those beautiful, melodic bass lines that weave in and out, doing a little musical dance with Liam’s liquid, electric guitar parts. We were aware that we had made something with great beauty and integrity. It felt like a definitive statement and that it should be the first track on the record.”

“The title “Magic Piano” comes from a children’s radio show… about a kid who hates practicing piano, and his piano starts to talk to him, and then he becomes able to play incredible things on his piano because the piano is sort of doing it all. And so some of the theme was sparked by that. But then, it is a genuinely a genuine love song to my piano. It’s also got other things to it, about music in general — just the effort to achieve lightness and elevation, and how magical that the whole thing is. I suppose I’m also stating my absolute devotion to melody as the lead — how it takes the lead part in my own relationship with music.”