The four new tracks on Songs For A Nervous Planet are the sound of a band on the upswing. Say Goodbye To Mum And Dad sets heart-breaking lyrics to a cheery, whistled refrain; The Girl That I Call Home is airy and expansive; and Emily Said burbles away with spacey synths and a children’s choir.
And then there’s Astronaut, a jazzy ballad so future-facing that the LP’s cover features a space traveller among the past-referencing sunflowers. The duo experienced a dip before recording The Tipping Point, when they were unwisely paired with ‘up-and-coming songwriters’ for an aborted LP, but now they’re flying high. “Astronaut was around for a while,” Orzabal says.