THE Hoosiers’ plan to release new music as it was recorded on a series of EPs throughout 2015 was thwarted by virtue of asking the fans if they liked the idea.

The near-unanimous and surprising response was that the fans wanted an album. So the band returned to the studio to finish the now-full-length, fan-mandated album The Secret Service, out last week.

The multi-platinum success of their 2007 debut album, The Trick to Life, and singles such as Worried About Ray and Goodbye Mr. A, raised huge expectations for its follow-up, not least at The Hoosiers’ record label.

The prophetically titled The Illusion of Safety was, all the band agree, a troubled project from the start.

The self-released News From Nowhere, released in 2014, was an astonishing return to form.

Shattering their previous run of an album every three to four years, this autumn’s LP release – only a year after their third album – reveals a band hitting their stride through a purple patch, improving as they discover they have more to say than ever.

Enjoy all the old hits and new material when the band appear at Southampton’s Engine Rooms on Sunday.

l Tickets are available from seetickets.

l For the full interview, see page 37.