There’s an indisputable buzz engulfing the backstage area of London’s subtly stylish Roundhouse as we arrive to speak to The Xcerts frontman Murray Macleod. This excitement is in no small part emanating from headliner Twin Atlantic’s dressing room, as they boisterously joke around ahead of one of their most anticipated shows to date. Yet in the distinctly smaller dressing room adjacent to that of Twin Atlantic, the buzz is building for a different reason.

“We’ve never been in London for an album release day,” Macleod says, perhaps providing some explanation for the restlessness and downright stress exuding from The Xcerts’ team. “The last two times we’ve been in Aberdeen or Inverness playing on a boat.”

Today, a cold Monday back in early November, The Xcerts have unleashed their third full-length into the world. ‘There Is Only You’ is, at least superficially, a reinvention for the band. It’s a far cry from their ‘In The Cold Wind We Smile’ debut, and a further cry from their sophomore release – the critically acclaimed ‘Scatterbrain’. ‘There Is Only You’ is filled to the brim with pop hooks, the likes of which have the potential to make tonight’s headliners envious.

“It’s so strange because you kind of base what’s happening on your phone,” Macleod speaks of the release hype behind the new record. “You get constant updates of what’s happening. If we’re basing it on that, which we never do as a band, today has been insane.”

Macleod isn’t out of line. ‘There Is Only You’ has spent the weeks leading up to the release gathering not only critical acclaim, but mainstream radio plays and a notable buzz in their fan base and beyond – not least due to an early album stream. It’s entirely new for the band. Debut ‘In The Cold Wind We Smile’ turned some heads and started the ball rolling, but didn’t propel The Xcerts into the limelight. The follow up delivered on a critical basis and allowed the band to tour extensively, but failed to achieve quite what the band had in mind. “It was quite love/hate,” Macleod muses with impressive accuracy.

“What we wanted to do with ‘Scatterbain’, we thought that people would come see us live and really like the record and tell all their friends about it,” Macleod admits. ‘Scatterbrain’, recorded in New York with veteran producer Mike Sapone, was supposed to be the band’s breakthrough – at least in their minds at the time. “People weren’t quite sure what to make of the band. They didn’t quite get it.”

As Macleod continues, it becomes clear that this was a bittersweet pill to swallow. The critical success of ‘Scatterbrain’ pushed the band forward, and its style encouraged other bands to take notice. Ultimately these bands opted to take The Xcerts on tour in what would become a four year long excursion – including stints with one of the band’s heroes, Brand New. Yet this didn’t translate as well to their audiences. For a band who live for audience sing-alongs – as Macleod later admits – ‘Scatterbrain’ lacked the opportunity.

“Personally, I don’t think we had our shit together,” Macleod provides as an initial explanation to both why ‘Scatterbrain’ didn’t elevate them as high as they might have hoped, and why there is a big step between that and new record ‘There Is Only You’. “We were still figuring stuff out on our live performance. It was supposed to be a total rockers record, but at times it was perhaps a bit too much for the tours that we were doing.”

For a man so open about his misgivings with the previous material, there isn’t an ounce of shame. ‘Scatterbrain’ was a great record – is a great record. The acclaim it received makes it difficult to argue to the contrary. “Looking back, we love that record,” Macleod says with as much integrity as before. “I don’t think enough bands take pride in their back-catalogue.”

Although not comparing The Xcerts to cult superstars, Macleod continues to analyse. “I think people forget. Everyone is trying to aim for their ‘O.K. Computer’ on their first record, but there’s two records before that. There’s ‘Bleach’ before ‘Nevermind’. All the bands we look up to, it’s always their third record when they get it.”

Now, The Xcerts sit upon their third record. The process has been slow. Macleod comes to the realisation that he has been a member of the band for more than half his life, using the hare and the tortoise analogy to explain their sometimes “painfully slow” career. Yet, Macleod is full of passion and hope.

“I’m glad we didn’t explode on our first or second record because we weren’t ready,” Macleod provides critically. “Now we just want to play music and record, and that’s it.” It’s a very assertive statement. As Macleod reaches the end of the sentence he isn’t thinking of success. He raves about the toilet circuit while still admitting that the exposure is both humbling and welcome.

“This time around we have noticed a massive change in how we play and are way tighter. We spent the last two records doing our homework, now we’ve finally handed in our dissertation. On our first two records you can hear our influences left, right and centre. With this one I think it’s less obvious. More refined.”

‘There Is Only You’ is The Xcerts as they want to be seen. Comfortable in their skin, their music prowess, their direction. Macleod states emphatically that this record wouldn’t exist without the other two, but it is clearly the record he is most proud of. It’s a record that has grown out of their passion for music – influenced by Tom Petty’s pop song-writing with a live setting in mind.

“We were thinking about our favourite thing at shows to happen, and we realised we love sing-alongs. I’m not fussed about people jumping around and crowdsurfing – people singing really means something,” Macleod confirms. He’s also happy to admit that healthy competition has been a vital factor in the creation of ‘There Is Only You’.

“There were so many UK bands blowing up. We were looking at what was happening there, and thought there were other bands doing well and it really annoyed me,” he imparts. “They were getting heralded as these brilliant pop songwriters in rock music, and I was aware that we could do it better. That was a good thing for us to strive to be better songwriters. In my head I knew I could write better than that. We spoke about it and thought, ‘let’s do it’.”

The result is the hook laden, pop influenced ‘There Is Only You’. A far cry from the first two releases indeed, yet one that continues a journey that shows no signs of ending. “That’s the path we chose to take. I just hope people like it,” Macleod says humbly.

As our conversation reaches its end, Macleod speaks of seeing a tweet by a fan following one of their recent live shows. “I guess it’s time to jump on the bandwagon,” it reads. Although he laughs it off, it’s certainly a bandwagon worth joining.

‘There Is Only You’ is available now via Raygun.

The Xcerts are currently touring across the UK. Catch them at the following venues:

DECEMBER

03 NORWICH Waterfront Studio
04  SHEFFIELD Corporation
06  GLASGOW Oran Mor
07  DUNDEE Beat Generator
08  NEWCASTLE Think Tank
09  LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
10  LONDON Tufnell Park Dome
12  MANCHESTER Soup Kitchen
13  BRIGHTON Haunt