Idiosyncratic Kendal-born six-piece British Sea Power are back with a new album: Let The Dancers Inherit The Party – and a nationwide tour that kicks off in April.

Marking almost 15 years since the release of the band’s debut record, ‘The Decline of British Sea Power’ ,vocalist and guitarist Yan Scott Wilkinson spoke about eighties nostalgia, the German art scene, and reveals why he’ll be toning down his wild onstage antics.

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Speaking on the forthcoming album, Yan said: “It’s quite melodic. Like sonically uplifting but I’d say thematically darker, because I write the lyrics and Martin [Noble, guitarist] does a lot of the actual music and he’s more upbeat than me!

“I think in comparison to our other stuff it’s easier to listen to; a bit more straightforward. Particularly the first couple of singles: ‘Bad Bohemian’ and ‘Keep On Trying’.”

“The typography [on the album sleeve] is influenced by the German Dadaist artist Kurt Schwitters, who was part of the thirties German art scene. We use his sound poetry during our live shows and he’s always been a massive influence on us.”

Elaborating on the interesting title for ‘Bad Bohemian, Yan explained: “There’s a few ways you can approach this. There’s the book that we’ve talked about before which is called The Bad Bohemian [by Cecil Parrot], and the fellow in it is a cheeky rebel who came up with all sorts of weird ideas about fake werewolves and odd political protests.

“But that’s not important to the song necessarily. I just wanted to write a song that didn’t actually make sense, so people could come up with their own interpretation. One of my mates for example, thought that it was about cool people in Shoreditch.”

Releasing an album in today’s political climate draws the inevitable question regarding the value of art as expression and escapism.

“I think it would be easy to get depressed or down about everything at the moment, if you were that way inclined. Which would be understandable because things are messed up, but equally great art can come from crazy times,” Yan said.

“I was thinking how eighties things are quite fashionable in culture. Then Russia became the enemy again, we’re worried about nuclear weapons and then there’s a new president who is kind of like Reagan.

“It’s weird, I’m waiting for the new Miners’ strike. It’s an age of eighties paranoia.”

Famed for his stage antics, Yan was asked if 15 years in the band had seen him tone things down at all.

He said: “I think I have, but not everyone has. I used to throw guitars around until one landed on my head.

“I’m surprised I haven’t even ended up any of those YouTube Fail videos because I have been known to make a complete fool of myself! In fact, I think my stuff is miles better.”

‘Let The Dancers Inherit The Party’ is the band’s tenth album, and follows 2015’s ‘Sea of Brass’.

It will be released on the band’s own Golden Chariot Records, and will come out on March 31.

Interview conducted by Karen Anne Overton