Death And Frivolity

“I think we're pretty lucky with the type of music that we make and that we work well together automatically, basically,” Cook says. “And the fact that I sort of control most of the music aspects live and [Marcus Whale] is definitely the vocalist these days, it isn't all that difficult. And it's getting easier the more we tour and see each other in person. Basically our touring is our rehearsal.

“I'm wary of making it either too difficult for me to have fun playing, or too difficult for people to be entertained by it, so it isn't that drastically different,” Cook mentions of playing live. “I play with the elements of the song live and fuck it up a little bit, alter it slightly and play drums over the top of parts of the song. I don't want to make it too easy on myself; I've got to not be bored, but not be too overwhelmed with things that I can't have fun, so it's a bit of balance there.”

From seeing previous shows, it looks like Collarbones have the 'fun' part of the show down pat, but it's something they've had to work on.

“We've forced ourselves to make it enjoyable,” Cook continues. “To begin with, in live performances, we were a bit more reserved; Marcus wasn't much of a frontman. We kind of hid behind laptops and didn't do much. But we've slowly gotten more confidence and made it more of a party atmosphere and I think slowly maybe our music will become more 'party' to accommodate the vibe that we want to have at live shows, where we try to make it as fun as possible.”

The first album, Iconography, was critically acclaimed, but hasn't quite seen the band cross over into mainstream success. The new album looks set to repeat the critical attention, and Cook is hopeful that it will attract new listeners into the fold as well. 

“At the moment the reception is still in the critical side of things definitely, but hopefully this album connects with people a bit more. I think the lyrics are a bit more direct, so maybe there's a bit more of an emotional pull to it that might get people more interested. The first one was a bit more abstract, so I wouldn't expect that to be commercially successful. We don't have any expectations, but we'll go with whatever happens. I think we're both willing to make it a priority in our lives at least”

Die Young, their new release, is a very modern mixture of R&B and electronica – similar to some of Oscar + Martin or How To Dress Well's work. “Well Marcus has basically spent the whole year listening to a lot of R&B and I suppose emulates them now,” Cook explains. “And I do as well. But the majority of my personal influences have come from mainstream dance music this time and rave music and trance even. Which you probably can't really hear, apart from the first track Hypothermia. And so [Die Young] is sort of like a collision of poppy vocals with everything else in the world. I think there's been a  slight change in mentality maybe. We've always liked R&B, but now a certain sub-section of the community won't look down on us as much if we admit to it.”

Collarbones even collaborated internationally with Die Young, working with Paris-based Michael Salerno to create a film to accompany the album. “It's sort of a nice, but also pretentious thing to have a film alongside your album, but it's pretty fun,” Cook concludes.