Hello Sadness is the fourth studio album from Los Campesinos!, recorded earlier this year in Girona, Spain.

Hello Sadness is ten songs of love, loss and heartbreak nail-gunned to a back- drop of broken, tangled bodies, creeping, dead-eyed animals, suffocating, looming shadows and World Cup exits.

I think we tend to take inspiration from all over the place with the records we've made, but with this album the main difference was in overall approach, in that we tried to achieve a more focussed, coherent set of songs.  

We worked really hard and spent a lot of time rehearsing and rehashing ideas and arrangements, so that rather than throwing ideas at a song and making decisions in the mixing process, we tried to be more disciplined and selective much earlier on.  

The intention was to make sure every note was contributing something and that everything was pulling towards the same goal, in order to try and maximise the impact of each song. It hopefully makes for a more dynamic, emphatic album, and while there's still tension and chaos, it's maybe a bit more deliberate and direct. 
 

The tracks on your new album seem to reflect a much more grown up and solemn outlook on life compared to your previous albums. Would you say this a true reflection on where you are as a band and individuals at the moment? 

It's not a conscious thing - to try and sound more or less 'grown up' would feel a bit disingenuous - but it makes sense: the first album contained the first songs we'd ever written, and we've spent 5 years learning and trying to improve at songwriting, so hopefully that comes across.

Gareth's also 5 years older, so it'd also make sense that his lyrics reflect that, although I think this album in particular was written around and captures quite a specific period of time for him, so I don't know that it's necessarily a reflection of things more generally.   

We love the artwork on the new album. Do you have a lot of input into choosing the album covers? 

Yeah, it's always been up to us.  Although, since Rob joined the band, we've been able to milk his creativity and do much more ourselves 'in-house'. We found this picture online that a lovely guy called Barry Bell had taken of his kids and, without going into pretentious musician-speak, it just seemed to instinctively capture/reflect the feel of the album.  

Once we'd decided on it, Rob did a bunch of artistic hoodoo to turn it into 'artwork' proper, and has since put the whole sleeve/booklet together, and it looks rather amazing, if we do say so ourselves. 
 

What do you hope to gain from the release of this album? 

Uh, I think it can lead you into some pretty shaky territory when you try to anticipate or second-guess people's reactions to something you've made, as hard as that is to resist.  As cliched as it sounds, you just have to try and shut out that way of thinking: try and retreat into a sort of creative tunnel vision, and just make the best record you can, that satisfies yourselves.

Then whatever else happens is incidental. But now that it's made, I can say that I will be pretty devastated if this record doesn't earn us enough cash for me to be able to afford a proper coke habit. 

With the recent departure of Harriet, have the dynamics of the band changed at all? 

It's probably a bit early to say, as we've only really been rehearsing together.  But the difference in line-up maybe adds to the 'newness' and the excitement that comes with playing a whole new bunch of songs, so we're just getting on with it and looking forwards. 
 

You are touring in November across three different continents, how do you cope with such a busy schedule in such a short space of time? 

You're normally too excited/busy to notice much else.  It's when you come off tour that you realise how tired you've gotten and it all catches up with you.  
 

Talk us through the differences in playing somewhere like Tokyo in comparison to somewhere a bit closer to home like Cardiff. 

I'll try to avoid making sweeping generalisations, but there are obviously cultural differences and there does seem to be a pretty different 'gig etiquette' from the small experiences we've had in Japan.

The crowds in general have been really reverent and polite, and super attentive. And I think regardless of how 'big' you are, you get treated like celebrities too, and while that's kind of awkward and embarrassing, it's also great for the ego. 

Are there any songs off the new album you are particularly looking forward to playing on the tour? 

We try to treat our songs like we would our children: no favourites. But when pushed, we'd go for the cute, cheeky one that's most likely to be good looking when it grows up.

Not sure which song that is. 
 

And finally how is issue no. 2 of Heat Rash coming along? 

It's gone to press, so we're just waiting to get the finished product back.  We had to prioritise the album so it's taken a bit longer than we'd hoped, but it *should* be worth it...