On their fourth studio album 'False Alarm' [due 21 June], Two Door Cinema Club have rediscovered the carefree whimsy of their craft not felt since they released their debut album almost ten years ago.
“It feels a bit like Two Door 'unchained',” bassist Kevin Baird says of the new album.
“It's kind of back to the stuff we had on the first album where we didn't really care, not that we didn't care – we didn't have outside pressure about what we should be doing.
“The first album we were just teenagers who wrote songs in a garage and it was just for fun. Then the second album we were a bit more like 'oh, how do we replicate our success?'.
“Then the third album was more to do with our internal struggles and how do we just be a band, work together and enjoy spending time together, and then managed to succeed in doing that once we put out 'Game Show' [2017].
"So now we're in this really nice place where we're almost circling back to the start where we just make music and write for the fun of it.”
The record itself is imbued with the sense of freedom from restraint, of a band less burdened by other people's expectations and relieved of the pressure that had been straining their relationship with one another.
“I think a lot of those burdens, we've always put them on ourselves and we're very lucky to have people around us who are very understanding,” Kevin says.
“We've been very lucky we've never had an overarching record company or management or anything at us going 'come on guys, where's the hit? Go back to the studio!'.”
With 'False Alarm', Two Door Cinema Club have produced what may have otherwise been a very serious, even maudlin, record if left in less capable hands.
Rather than wailing about the state of the world, they have gifted us a satirical take on the social and political woes embattling 2019. “That was key to us, that if we honed in on very specific issues, whether it be America or the UK or climate change or what's going on in Australia, I think you could find that a little bit depressing,” Kevin says.
“[The album] is just about change I guess, and it's about seeing the fun side in how f...ed up we are as a race, and at the same time collectively taking responsibility and that comes from us as well.
“We didn't want to write a record where we were pointing the finger going 'you're doing this wrong, you need to change'. It's very much inclusive – we are messed up and in a sort of nice, fun way maybe we can all take a look at ourselves without being too gloom and doom.”
Kevin says that by taking a humorous approach to the themes and lyrics, he hopes the message behind them won't be a bitter pill for listeners to swallow.
“We've only got one life to live and people are much more wiling to look at these issues and look at them seriously, and look at them with a view to make some changes if you're not telling people [they're] wrong and pointing the finger.
"We're all able to change and we're all in it together, and it's just abut taking a step back and going 'this is really crazy and funny at the same time'.”
The band were recently revealed as the headline act of 2019 Grapevine Gathering, which has events in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia.
'False Alarm' is released 21 June.
Grapevine Gathering 2019 Dates
Sat 23 Nov - Grapevine Estate (VIC)Sat 30 Nov - Roche Estate (NSW)
Sun 1 Dec - Sandalford (WA)
Two Door Cinema Club 2019 Tour Dates
Thu 21 Nov - Forum MelbourneFri 22 Nov - Thebarton Theatre (Adelaide)
Thu 28 Nov - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
Fri 29 Nov - The Fortitude Music Hall (Brisbane)
