You Me At Six are back and bigger than ever before, having this week scored the biggest hit of their career with new single 'Lived A Lie'. Gearing up towards the release of their fourth studio album Cavalier Youth and preparing to support 30 Seconds To Mars on a massive tour this winter, the band are continuing to reach new heights.
The new record will be the first material since their 2011 album, Sinners Never Sleep and is being hyped as their best output yet. Frontman Josh Franceschi tells Gigwise how the record sees the band go further than they've ever gone before.
"It's a very exciting record for us because I think we've finally found our sound," the frontman tells Gigwise. "I know every band says this about their new record but I think it's the best record we've ever done."
Watch the official video for the band's new single 'Lived A Lie'
"We don't want to regurgitate the same old shit, I think it would have been easy for us to do that on this record but we've gone completely the other way and done what we've wanted to do. I feel like it's a culmination of all the best things we've done over the last few years"
The band worked and recorded with Neal Avron, the producer who has previously worked with bands including Linkin Park, Fall Out Boy and Aerosmith. Avron played a central role in pushing the band into new territory, telling them at the start "We're not making just another You Me At Six record, we're going to make the best You Me At Six record."
Josh says the recording experiencing was done in a way he'd never experienced before and had a hugely positive effect on the record. One of the tasks the band were initially set by Avron was to find new bands and explain why they loved them. Listening to music different to their own, Imagine Dragons being just one of the records, and exploring these sounds to enhance their own.
Josh describes the overall result, "If you wanted to label the record it could be described as an early Deftones and Temper Trap sort of thing."
Watch the video for 'Loverboy', the lead single from the band's previous album
The last record saw the band reach spectacular new heights with the band's tour finale taking place in a sold out Wembly stadium, a testiment to the size their fanbase has grown to. The footage of that night still gives Josh goosebumps but their success hasn't made them any less hardworking or driven. "We all know what we want and it's not a question of being famous or wanting lots of money, it's more about achieving things that most people in life tell you are unreachable."
"The plan was to give ourselves new milestones to achieve and to reach new heights. If any band said they didnt want to tour around the world and play arenas they'd probably be lying, but it's baby steps at the moment, we've only dropped one song."
You Me At Six have come a long way and are set to carry on that way. He recalls the huge difference in the band's recording experiences in the beginning. "The first time we recorded in LA it was a battle between us and our label, it was horrible. If our friends hadn't come out when they did I think we would have all killed ourselves, it was that shit."
The experience the band had recording Cavalier Youth seems to be an entirely different story. Staying in a beautiful house with a pool and their girlfriends, Josh believes the positive experince enriched their sound. "I really think if you listen to some of the new tracks you can hear the brightness."
Discussing LA as a recording setting Josh says, "You either love it or you hate it. It can bring out the best in you or it can bring out the worst in you. I think it bought out the best in us."
The single 'Lived A Lie' is out now. Click here to download the track.