IN the second half of our exclusive interview, Kat Dibbits finds out about Elbow’s plans to follow up their magnificent fourth album, and why their homecoming show this autumn should be their best yet.

SOME bands shoot to stardom overnight, releasing one hit single before fizzling out quicker than a Roman candle on a wet Bonfire Night.

Others build slowly, tending the embers for years before bursting into a blaze of glory.

Elbow, it would be fair to say, are the latter type.

In their 10-year career so far they have been nominated for awards and dropped by their record label, critically lauded commercial underperformers whose time, it must have seemed, might never come.

Musically brave, they parted ways with record label V2 in 2007. By 2008 they had self produced The Seldom Seen Kid, the album which would catapult them to superstardom. Their former label bosses must be kicking themselves.

To date, The Seldom Seen Kid has led to wins for Elbow at the Brits, the Ivor Novello awards, the South Bank Show awards, the NME awards, the Mojo magazine awards and, of course, the Mercury Music Prize.

How on earth do you follow up a success like that?

“It’s almost like we’ve got second album syndrome again, but because we’re a little longer in the tooth I think it will be much easier to deal with,” says bassist Pete Turner.

“There is a little bit of pressure but I think we all feel quite confident really. It means it’s more of a challenge for us because we really have to get our heads down, not let ourselves down and not let down people who really love that album.”

Is there a temptation to deliberately move away from writing songs that sound similar to those on the Seldom Seen Kid?

“Whatever we do, whatever sound we try and get, with the five of us being in a room together and working on it it’s always going to sound like an Elbow album,” says Pete. “We’re certainly not afraid to change the way we do things if something’s not working. We go with what works best for each song to make an entire album that we’re really happy with.”

Tonight the band are playing alongside the Halle orchestra as part of the Manchester International Festival, but the gig of the year for them is likely to be their homecoming to the MEN Arena on September 18.

“That’s the peak I think of this whole album campaign, playing at the MEN Arena,” says Pete. “We’ve played there a few times before supporting people but we’re really excited about this one, we’re really going to pull out all the stops and make it a big homecoming, a real fun party night.

“We want to keep it as intimate as we possibly can, that’s what we enjoy about playing our gigs, but obviously we have to step up a little bit as well.”

Anyone who witnessed the band’s awe inspiring set in Cheshire’s Delamere forest last year — including the moment when one romantic soul persuaded frontman Guy Garvey to read out a letter on his behalf asking his girlfriend to marry him — will know the sort of devotion that Elbow inspire in their fans. What is it about the band that makes them so hugely likeable?

“We’re just a bunch of regular blokes, we really are,” says Pete. “We’ve got to this situation after a real long haul. I wouldn’t have necessarily liked it to be like this right from the word go because I don’t know how we would have dealt with it — we would have been a lot younger and a little bit more naive.

“I think it’s a shame some bands end before their time just because they fall out of favour, it’s a shame really.”

He admits that they had no idea that The Seldom Seen Kid was going to have the impact it did, and that it has taught them never to lose faith in themselves.

“It’s just been surprise after surprise really,” he says. “We’ve been kind of worried that everyone would get sick of hearing about us but there’s a lot of goodwill I think towards us.

It’s just been an absolute riot.”

l Elbow play the MEN Arena on September 18. To book, visit men-arena.com or ring 0844 847 8000.