Indie rockers Spoon want to play with one of the city’s cult bands

The Texas group are huge admirers of the Yummy Fur, who released two albums during the 1990s and featured members of Franz Ferdinand.

“I was obsessed with the Yummy Fur for a while,” says Britt Daniel, Spoon’s singer.

“I loved their record Sexy World (released in 1998). They played a reunion tour a few years ago and I saw them at a small club in LA during it. You know, I’d love them to play with us sometime – I should have looked into that sooner than a week before the show!”

Spoon’s own record isn’t bad either. An article once claimed they were the critic’s favourite band, based on how highly their albums scored in reviews, and the band’s latest effort, Hot Thoughts, is another triumph.

Although not exactly household names in Britain, their confident and stylish indie has earned them a devoted following over the years. This time they’ve gone with a funkier, more playful side than previously seen on any of their albums. In fact, there isn’t even a single acoustic guitar on the record, which is new territory for the foursome.

Helping them along the way was producer Dave Fridmann. He worked with the group at his studio near New York. However the location was away in the woods, cut away from any human contact…

“We’d be snowed in, at this old farmhouse, for weeks for a time and it really drove me bonkers,” says Britt.

“By the first night I was already feeling like I was in the Shining. It’s not the way I like to live, but Dave is a wonderful person and the sound there is so good that it was worthwhile. Then we went back down to Austin for a week, and we could have barbeques and go to our favourite bars after we’d been working. That was more civilised – I couldn’t even get a decent cup of coffee at Dave’s!”

The past year hasn’t just been about the band’s own work, however. Last year Britt posted a cover version of David Bowie’s Never Let Me Down, reflecting the influence the music legend had on him when he was younger.

Going back to classic Bowie even influenced Hot Thoughts to an extent.

“I had Let’s Dance when it came out in the 80s,” adds Britt.

“Then all his stuff came out again in about 1991, and that’s when I first started to hear Ziggy Stardust and Low and all those classic records. So I was in college when I started to really get what it was about, but they have never been out of my reach since then.

“I think I would say Low is still my favourite but Ziggy Stardust is incredible. I tried to sequence Hot Thoughts in the same way, where it starts off slower and then in the second half it really kicks into another gear. It’s not front-loaded and is just solid through and through – it develops as it goes along. We’re always trying to put a lot of effort into the flow of things when it comes to an album.”

It's taking those songs on the road, including at the Art School tomorrow night, that Britt is now looking forward to.

“My favourite thing to do is to be on tour, it’s the best headspace I ever get in,” he says.

“The records mean a lot more to me, that’s the document and I’m a record guy for sure, but there is nothing more immediate than being on tour and doing a show every night.”

There is a problem though. The singer and his bandmates still haven’t cracked playing some of them live, much to the confusion of Britt’s mum.

“We have our favourites from each record but we do like to vary it up each night,” says Britt.

“There’s a few from the new record that we haven’t figured out how to play yet, which I know sounds crazy. That’s something my mom never understands about the band. She’ll say ‘but you finished the record and you’ve already played them, so why don’t you just do it?’ But a lot of times we are piecing together these songs from the studio and it wasn’t all done at once.

“My mom doesn’t really get that…”

Spoon, Art School, Wednesday, £22.50, 7pm

JONATHAN GEDDES