It was hard to get Romy and Oliver to do a track [for In Colour] and leave it for me because they really liked everything we made together, and then they wanted it for The xx. With the band, they'll write a bass hook, then I'll come in and we'll work together as a threesome. But for the tracks for my album, I sent them my almost fully formed idea, and then I asked them to send me something and we'd work together one-on-one. I wanted them to be honest about what's going on in their lives, rather than being cryptic, which some of The xx songs are. And I also wanted it to be about nightlife.

I found it harder than I thought I would, actually, being out here on my own, doing the same stuff that we used to be able to share between the three of us. But it's necessary for me to do this so that I can continue to be inspired by doing the band stuff as well.

Apart from not having any time off, it's okay. It's just like having one job, really. Everything falls into everything else. The style of my song "The Rest Is Noise" [from In Colour] has turned into one of my favorite songs from the new The xx album. We've been a lot more open to not abiding by our set of rules about writing and music. It's all still there, and it sounds like us, but there's bits where we've pushed ourselves. The first album is sort of discovering ourselves. The second album is like a comedown from that. The third one is knowing ourselves.

I've never enjoyed filming music videos, but the "Loud Places" one for In Colour was actually a really enjoyable day. One of my and Romy's old best friends who we used to skate with and somebody else who is now a friend filmed it. It really felt like when we just used to go out in the city and skate. From the age of 14 to 18, skating was about being able to take the city over on the weekends. In the week it felt like it was definitely the grown-ups' place, but then at the weekend was just our playground. I know every tiny backstreet in London now, which I love. Skating and clubbing, both of them kind of make you feel free.

I don't think dance music is important in the big scheme of things to a lot of people. But it's important to me because it just makes me happy. There's not that many things that make me happy. I mean, that's why it's important to a lot of people. It can be something that you listen to on your own if you want, but really it's something designed to make people happy, even if it's a sad song. The act of dancing is a happy thing to do.