It's been almost a decade since New York's Sunflower Bean burst onto the scene with 2016's 'Human Ceremony', an exciting mix of genres and influences which sounded like exactly what it was – teenagers giddy with the thrill of creating music.

That excitement can only carry a band so far, and since then, they've evolved, always managing to be a step or two ahead of what's expected of them. From the outside, it's seemed effortless – helped along by their image as one of the coolest groups to come out of New York in quite some time. Internally, though, things weren't quite so smooth. "It definitely was not business as usual!" laughs guitarist / vocalist Nick Kivlen, dialling in with bassist / vocalist Julia Cumming from Paris, where they recently wrapped up a run of dates supporting Cage The Elephant. "The two years leading up to recording [new album] 'Mortal Primetime' were probably the most difficult we've ever had as a band. A lot of stuff happened, which was basically the stereotypes of rock'n'roll horror stories, just without the sex or the drugs or the money.