AM: “A lot of the album is music for an individual—personal music—and we wanted something for everybody in the crowd to get behind, where everybody takes the song for themselves and the energy from everybody is just so good. We’re conscious about stuff like that now. We’re never selfish with it, we never wanted to keep it to ourselves. We always wanted to express it to people but now we understand that, at a show, it’s their time to have a laugh and have a jump around. You have to write a song that’s sat in that category.” Scott Concepcion: “I did. There’s plenty of little guitar parts and overlapping intricacies that form melodies when listened to together. Jim Abbiss [producer] brought out his Höfner electric thumb piano too, it was incredible.” Alex Moore: “I felt that this was a powerful song to start with—it sets off the narrative for the rest of the album. It felt right to be the spearhead. I started writing it when I was a lot younger, and I couldn’t finish it because I wasn’t old enough to understand it at that point—but the end of it came out of me later down the line.”

You’re playing your biggest headline show to date at Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl in June — do you have anything special planned?When you stumble upon a formula that works, why change it? For their second album, The Lathums have kept to their sound, albeit with some tweaks. Despite the magnificent production work by James Skelly on all of their material leading up to From Nothing To A Little Bit More, The Lathums decided to mix things up by opting to work with Jim Abiss at his studio in Cambridgeshire. Abiss’ credits include Arctic Monkeys’ Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, and the first two albums from international pop star Adele. For The Lathums, it seemed a natural fit on paper, and this feeling is reaffirmed with the opening anthem, ‘Struggle’, which gets the album off on the front foot. When listening on, the music will not disconnect you from your life or the world you know, but it will offer you a slender chance to dismiss oblivion. And over in the corner you may sit and wonder, feeling strapped to the darkness, totally drawn to the gloom, asking yourself, how am I getting out of this mess? Well, music like this has the power to aid you in such situations. The Lathums have developed an album with sheer determination to make an impact, and they’ve certainly made a statement here. Alex: “I think that’s more of a constant thing, really. We’re together all of the time: 80% of that time we’re in very intense situations that we have to either get sorted there and then, or talk through it and get it sorted before it runs away from us. Copsey, Rob (1 October 2021). "The Lathums score Number 1 debut album with How Beautiful Life Can Be". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 1 October 2021.

Now, as we approach the release of their second album, The Lathums show no signs of second album syndrome as they progress and mature from the 2021 record with a new lineup following Johnny Cunliffe’s departure. Matty Murphy joins on bass for the new era. Alex: “At some point, if fate decides it — I’m not opposed to playing it live at all. Though I do think it’d be quite a lot for a person to stand there for eight minutes straight and take in all of that music. I think it’s more something that you should sit down and listen to it yourself.” You previously predicted to NME that you’d clinch the Number One spot with your debut album. What are your ambitions with album two? Continuing on tothepenultimate song ofTheLathumssecond album ‘From Nothing ToALittle Bit More’, they present usasong shrouded by yearning. ‘Crying Out’ has lead singer Alex Moore literally crying out for somebody,asense of desperation in his voice makes it allthemore emotional.Alex: “The smell, the looks, the sex appeal, the ingenuity. Mate, he’s got it all. And he plays the bass really well!” Alex: “Personally, I feel like we’ve already outdone ourselves massively. With our first album it wasn’t the goal to get Number One, but it was an affirmation of our first real step into music. We wanted to see if the people agreed, and it turns out they agreed very, very strongly. With album two, I’m happy that we’ve brought our music to so many different places and people. I’m not saying I don’t want a Number One, I’ll take it! I’d be very happy with that. But the feeling I get from people is way more important than any accolades. The life that we’re living, being on tour and stuff like that, meeting people: that’s the real stuff that gets you going, not a trophy.” Matty, how pleased are you to now be an official member of The Lathums? Alex: “I mean, we’re going to take over the world together – so we have to be as tight-knit as we possibly can. Over the past couple of months, we’ve definitely become way more closer and open about things. I think we look after each quite well, especially considering that we’re still quite young.” Alex, you recently described yourself as a “sad and strange” person and songwriter. Why is that? AM: “There’s a bit of love in this one. There’s a lot of love, really. I wanted to take myself out of my own shoes and see things from somebody else’s perspective. In this scenario, it’s the perspective of a woman, which is hard for a man to do. I’m not saying I’ve learned how to do that but I wanted to give it a go and not think just about me. I think I learned more about myself—ways that I’m selfish but hadn’t really realised, and certain things like that. I think it was owning up to things, things that you could change to better yourself.” AM: “There’s a bit of love in this one. There’s a lot of love, really. I wanted to take myself out of my own shoes and see things from somebody else’s perspective. In this scenario, it’s the perspective of a woman, which is hard for a man to do. I’m not saying I’ve learned how to do that but I wanted to give it a go and not think just about me. I think I learned more about myself—ways that I’m selfish but hadn’t really realized, and certain things like that. I think it was owning up to things, things that you could change to better yourself.”