Indie quartet Editors next week follow up their number one album An End Has A Start with In This Light And On This Evening. Frontman Tom Smith, who is dating Radio 1's Edith Bowman, speaks to POLLY WEEKS.

What can we expect from the new album – are there general themes running through it?

The lyrics are a lot more observational than what we've previously done. There are lots of characters and scenes to the backdrop of London. I think we've always been an urban-sounding band and enjoyed the imagery and romance of cities at night, but with this new record there are less guitars and it's more synthetic.

Is that where the title comes in?

Yeah. There's a view I see every other day in London and really take it for granted. At that particular moment, in that time of evening, neither night nor day, it just took my breath away – and that sort of mantra came from that experience.

In the past, the band have been compared to Echo and the Bunnymen and Joy Division, do those comparisons become annoying after a while?

Nah, I'm over it now. I really don't pay any attention to that stuff. If people are referencing us to other acts, it's fine. But if people are saying you are just a version of another band and that's their reason for not liking you, well, you can't please everyone.

Does the same apply to reading reviews?

No, I do read them. Likewise, I don't mind if people don't like what we do – that's fine, but sometimes if people tend to tell you what your influences are then I find that a bit strange. People seem to know better than we do, and a lot of the bands they refer to are bands we didn't grow up listening to and didn't influence us as musicians. We're aware of some of the stuff, but not all of it. If it reads like the person actually listened to the album and decided they didn't like it, then it's absolutely fine, but sometimes the reviews read like they have a preconceived idea of what they're going to be like and without listening to the album have just discarded it.

I find music journalism in this country increasingly tiresome. It's not like that everywhere, and I try to read all the reviews – both the good and the bad.

To set the record straight, which artists did inspire you?

I used to grow up listening to guitar music like Oasis and Blur, and then quickly fell in love with other acts like Radiohead and REM. The Bunnymen came along when I was a bit older and had more experience in music – we went back and discovered them.

More contemporary things like The Strokes, The Walkmen and Elbow were a big influence on us. Even more so now. We've always listened to bands like Depeche Mode and New Order, and even like bands like LCD Soundsystem and TV on the Radio, we're inspired by those sorts of things all the time.

Your first album was Mercury Music Prize-nominated and the second went straight to number one. Do you feel a pressure to make it a hat-trick of success with the third?

Yeah, maybe we'll get a number one and a Mercury!

No, I think the pressure is applied by ourselves in the creative process of making a record, and we feel this is better than what we've done before and we're proud of and it's exciting.

You can't please everyone with what you do. I'm fully aware that this record may not be some people's favourite Editors' record. All the awards and chart positions are nice, but they're not really why you do it. But of course it would be nice to get those too!

Your partner is Edith Bowman and you have a son together – is it important to keep your private life out of the spotlight?

Yeah, I understand why there's an interest but I've never really talked about it in any great depth. We don't really court that side. We're just not interested in doing that side of thing. We're not that interesting.

Is it going to be harder going out on tour now that you have a son?

Yeah, it's going to be hard. That's why ichat was invented!