Maximo Park frontman Paul Smith says that he is confident their second album ‘Our Earthly Pleasures’ is better than their debut.

The long player was recorded with Pixies and Foo Fighters producer Gil Norton and the band say that this has helped sculpt a “heavier” sound than ‘A Certain Trigger.’

Speaking to Gigwise, charismatic frontman Paul Smith said: “I think sometimes when bands have sold a few records you have those considerations where people have said that they want to replicate that success or try to second guess what people want and the record is compromised.

“Even if certain people don’t like it I still feel strongly that there will be a nice ground swell of people that do like it and will always stand by the songs. It is an excitement that we have at the moment because we just want to get them out there. I’m pretty confident it is better than the first.”

Moving on to the heavier sound, keyboardist Lukas Wooler said: “I think it reflects our heavier tastes. We are massive Sonic Youth fans and do tend to prefer American guitar bands over British bands.”

‘Our Earthly Pleasures’ is released on April 2 and is preceded by the single ‘Our Velocity’ a fortnight earlier.