“I just don’t think we’re that good,” confesses Jake Webb, frontman of Perth indie-rock outfit Methyl Ethel.

Many would disagree, starting with the hundreds of thousands of fans who will see the band at shows around the world this year.

Nor the music industry judges, who nominated Methyl Ethel’s debut album Oh Inhuman Spectacle for the Australian Music Prize in 2015.

The good folk at London-based label 4AD would also beg to differ, signing the Perth band to an impressive roster bursting with super cool acts such as the National, the Breeders, Grimes and Deerhunter.

Methyl Ethel have also earned comparisons to Tame Impala due to the fact they’re both WA bands, have management based in Los Angeles and peddle psych-leaning indie-pop.

Then there’s the quirk of Methyl Ethel, like Tame Impala, being a one-man home studio project that spirals into a five-piece line-up for concerts — local musicians Jacob Diamond and Lyndon Blue, both artists in their own right, have joined regular tourists Chris Wright and Thom Stewart.

Camera Icon Methyl Ethel frontman Jake Webb in his home studio in West Perth, where he made the band’s third album Triage. Credit: Simon Santi

While Webb says comparing his band to Kevin Parker’s outfit is “only natural” due to the parallels, this year’s Coachella headliners are “so beyond what we all as fans and friends expected of them”.

“They were always destined for great things,” the 31-year-old adds during a chat in his West Perth home. “It’s almost as though they’re not even a Perth band any more.”

Webb says this standing in front of the abstract painting by Sydney-based artist Loribelle Spirovski which adorns Methyl Ethel’s third album, Triage..

The Holly Fewson painting of an abnormally curvy female figure used for the cover of previous album, the 2017’s superb Everything is Forgotten, has pride of place in the entry hall.

In fact, there are paintings everywhere — plus a Kandinsky print and a large photo from the early 80s of a hairy Prince in his undies.

Camera Icon Perth musician Jake Webb’s band Methyl Ethel are part of the super cool roster of bands signed to London label 4AD. Credit: Simon Santi

The Spirovski painting hangs in the room where Webb recorded most of Triage during a break from touring at the start of last year. He also worked in 4AD’s studio in London.

The recording desk and banks of effects pedals are now in the front room where Webb continues to make new music as a “way to put any anxiety about album release (dates) out of my mind”.

Triage picks up where Everything is Forgotten finished, but is a far more cohesive sonic universe created out of guitar and synthesiser sounds that have been bent into unusual yet appealing new shapes on singles Scream Whole, Real Tight and the infectious Trip the Mains.

While the previous album was co-produced by former Simian Mobile Disco member James Ford (Foals, Arctic Monkeys), Triage is purely the creation of Webb.

“It’s a return to what I did in the beginning with the first couple of EPs and the first album,” he says.

“Maybe it was actually being able to spend a good amount of time in one place. The others were more fragmented in the recording.

“I would hope that I am honing in on a collection of sounds or a palette,” Webb continues. “My ultimate goal is to reach a point where I’ve mastered something, like a Buddha enlightenment, you know.”

Camera Icon While Jake Webb made Methyl Ethel’s previous album with Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford, new album Triage was a solo effort. Credit: The West Australian

Webb treated writing for Triage as a day job.

“I admire the Tin Pan Alley songwriters, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin, and the idea of going to work and constructing a song,” he explains.

“It’s not like inspiration comes from a dream or things like that, it’s more like getting to work.

“Nine-to-five job implies that it’s an arduous task, which it can be but it’s more of an addiction. It’s a nine-to-five addiction to try and find the secrets, get that magic.”

Everything is Forgotten drew on esoteric cultural influences, including English prog-rockers King Crimson, Japanese folklore and 19th century avant-garde theatre — the latter inspired hit single Ubu, which came an impressive fourth in the Triple J Hottest 100 for 2017.

It’s a nine-to-five addiction to try and find the secrets, get that magic.

“Having Ubu find so many ears only makes me want to go and do something completely different,” Webb says. “I didn’t stray too far but it’s definitely not something I would try to repeat. That would be suicide.”

Methyl Ethel’s main man found inspiration closer to home for Triage, but is reluctant to open up on the meanings or origins of songs on the new album.

He’d rather leave a “breadcrumb trail” for fans to follow. “I might come off as a jerk for being so evasive but that’s not the intention”.

While he worked alone, Webb would share song sketches with his band mates. He tried to stick to a pop formula, but the results are definitely not your usual chart fodder.

Camera Icon Perth’s Methyl Ethel kick off their national tour at the Astor in June.

“Pop is such a big umbrella term ... I see it and hear it all differently. I’ll think I’ve really gone full-ABBA but, maybe I’m pop dyslexic, they always come out skewed.”

That twisting of pop conventions is part of what makes Methyl Ethel a band popular enough to tour internationally. Thanks to the frictionless consumption of music via streaming, the group have arguably been embraced more overseas than here at home.

“If I felt under-appreciated, I would absolutely tell you,” Webb says. “I would say we are god’s gift to music.

“I’m really happy with this record — I put a lot of work into it, I’m proud of it — but I’m always working towards making the next one.”

I don’t think of the music as being the sound of Perth. It exists on a global scale.

Webb aims to improve his songwriting and production skills, as well as tour extensively in 2019 and beyond.

“The goal is to be nomads and not be tied to any place. I don’t think of the music as being the sound of Perth.

“It exists on a global scale,” he says.

“I’m looking forward to beginning to do some work with and for other people,” Webb adds. “I’m trying to open the doors. I’ve been a recluse for a while. I’m getting a bit lonely, I think.”

Triage is out now. Methyl Ethel play the Astor Theatre on June 15. Tickets from Ticketek.