Since recording their last album and during the course of over two years, the boys had become accustomed to the routines of their everyday lives. With writing and recording paused, Nick, Matt, Jamie and Alex were each able to indulge in their own bespoke approach to enjoying life in their early twenties.

Matt, ever the sophisticat, had settled back into life in Sheffield neatly. Initially, and very happily, he spent his days devising new extreme sports, testing their quality by building prototypes for numerous watercraft, boards of all kinds, huge foam weapons and even two...