OLIVER: There was some almost-conflict [making the new album]. With Jamie finishing his [solo] album, I definitely felt inspired. I was up for writing more up songs, whereas Jamie was like, "No, I'm done with this, I wanna bring it back down."

ROMY: I didn't even realize Jamie was trying to write stuff that wasn't maybe dance. We only realized that through doing interviews. Oliver and I, the demos we were making were 120 bpm.

JAMIE: I wasn't like done, you know. I just didn't wanna be making music for DJing — it feels like you're making music for somebody else. I still obviously love dance music; it inspires me. And a lot of that came out [on the album].

OLIVER: “On Hold” was one of the earliest songs. I'm really proud it’s the first single. There were so many chances to give up on it — on like version 15 after it not quite being there.

JAMIE: We finished “On Hold” quite late, considering how old it was. As kind of a last resort, I stayed late in the studio one time, and me and Romy were listening to Hall & Oates, that sample. The song still wasn't right so I just tried that, as a thing that probably wouldn't work. It's the same thing that happened with “Loud Places” [from In Colour] with the sample, and then everything just sort of fit.

ROMY: By the time that Jamie finally did that, he'd already done so many things to the song. I did have a lot of respect that he could inject something completely other to everything else he'd tried. I ended up re-writing the first verse. We really pushed ourselves with that, in retrospect. It wasn't like, "Oh, now it’s fixed!" It was like, "Oh, that's much better but let's still make it the best it can be." We definitely ripped things up and started them again a hell of a lot on this album.

JAMIE: We went over the same things over and over again so much that we drove ourselves insane.

ROMY: [Oliver and I] consciously worked hard to provide Jamie with more fully formed demos. With Coexist, we gave him bits and parts of verses and instrumentals, and put more weight on him to fill in the gaps. But this time he was away more and Oliver and I had more time just the two of us. So, more like on the first album, we made more formed demos with rhythm, that could inform or give Jamie what we were going for. And then he rips it up and reimagines it, to give us something to work on. We also had [producer] Rodaidh McDonald involved again, and I noticed that it meant that Jamie could be more creative. ‘Cause he was not having to do all of the little bits.

JAMIE: I could inject a little more of my own personality. [For example,] we had a demo of Romy and acoustic guitar singing “Brave For You.” And I had a demo that I'd made for somebody else. We were in that mindframe of trying anything, so we tried [them together], and it seemed to fit. We weren't sure whether it was too bombastic because they were so polar opposite, but the juxtaposition worked.

ROMY: The acoustic demo was very emotional, and almost too much. With the instrumental it had now, it’s more of a triumphant-sounding song now, rather than just a sad one. I’m grateful for that, because on stage it’ll help me from going too far into a mournful place. A friend of mine says that kind of represents how I've dealt with things. I don't deal with things I've lost in a heavy, every-day-sad way. I try and just get on with things.

JAMIE: We had one sample that we couldn't clear. There was a woman who owned the rights to her husband's song. She lived in Detroit and she wouldn't clear it — I think because of what she'd been through and everything that was going on right then with cultural privilege. I ended up writing her a letter and sending her some stuff. We still didn't manage to clear it, but doing that made me think about what’s happening with racism in America, and look into all the things that I've done, and the samples that I've used, and the music that I listen to. Which is basically all black music. It made me more aware of that.

ROMY: We grew up in a very multicultural school and it didn't feel like there was racism — not that I was aware of. When I did the writing session with Kelela, it was at the height of everything that was going on with Black Lives Matter and she was talking me through her perception of white privilege. I felt very privileged to hear that, and it really opened my eyes to what it must have been like for her, and is like for her.