Noah and the Whale Discuss New Album 'Last Night On Earth'

Eighteen months ago, Noah and the Whale's Charlie Fink struck a somewhat sad figure. With his relationship with Brit-folk darling Laura Marling recently sundered, the band's second album, 'The First Days of Spring,' was a melancholic take on break-up and trying to get on with your life. It certainly didn't sound like the natural follow-up to their debut 'Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down.'

Those who worried Fink might be embarking on a series of insular albums based around the debris of a broken heart should take heart, however. The band's new album, 'Last Night on Earth,' swaps the strings for a wide-screen cast of characters more in keeping with the likes of Bruce Springsteen or Tom Petty. The album's first single, 'L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.' is a pretty good taster -- showing Fink is more interested in imagining the private lives and goings on of other characters rather than mining his own broken heart.

Holed up in their East London rehearsal space -- a vaulted space Fink at first thought might be a disused synagogue -- he and bandmate Tom Hobden are dressed to impress in jackets and collared shirts, and clearly relaxed about the new record. Masses of equipment sit in the main room, testament to the pre-tour rehearsals the band have been putting themselves through as they prepare for a tour -- and their first visit to SXSW.