Aereogramme - no really, everything's fine

Heard of Aereogramme? If so, you're likely to be in a puzzling minority. The Glasgow band are about to release their fourth (yes, fourth) LP, but have yet to attract the printed superlatives or excited whisperings of the collected media. Talking to the Skinny, bassist Campbell McNeil reflects on the age-old conundrum for those seeking success in the music game: "To me, to be underground is a good thing, but I still want our music to reach as many people as possible."

The outfit have titled their new album My Heart Has a Wish That You Would Not Go, a line lifted from The Exorcist novel by William Peter Blatty, words that the author himself decided to cut from the script of the landmark horror movie. McNeil acknowledges this peculiarity: "I'm a massive fan of The Exorcist and it always seemed strange to me that that line from the book wasn't in the film. It's strange that Blatty censored himself on such a beautiful line. It's got a sense of hope, foreboding or resignation about it which kinda captured the way we were feeling when we were going in to start this album."

My Heart... is the latest offering from the feted Chemikal Underground label, but unlike other Chemikal acts such as Mogwai and Arab Strap, fame and its trappings have thus far eluded Aereogramme. At this stage McNeil isn't too concerned: "It's a lot of fun but it's not a living," he says in his upbeat Glaswegian accent. "We don't expect to make money from it. The question every band should ask themselves is this: are we doing this to make a living or are we doing this because we love doing it?"

McNeil might be in it for the love of music alone, but the Chemikal deal surely stirs ambitions of grander successes? "You would hope there is a seal of quality associated with it. The bands have always sounded completely different but they're always pretty good acts."

Despite their caution, Aereogramme do see My Heart... as their "most accessible" work so far, and there's more than a sneaking suspicion that it could lead to proper exposure for their ambitious - emotive (without the emo) rock. McNeil permits a flash of optimism: "I like to think of us as being a forward-thinking band who can perhaps be part of the mainstream. It's really important to me that we make music that sounds like it could only have been made in the year that it was made, and not any time in the last 40 years which I think a lot of new music sounds like. But I hate to hear bands complaining so I'm gonnae stop!"

On this latest offering, Aereogramme have toned down the thrashing metal moments of previous recordings in favour of surging strings and full-blown orchestration. This unusual coupling of indie and classical styles is down to guitarist Iain Cook, who doubles as a trained film composer. McNeil is grateful for his accomplice's talents: "Having someone who can score a 70-piece orchestra is really handy. It's important to us to have a broad, widescreen, cinematic sound. A lot of bands will grab some guy in to do the strings and it always sounds kinda tacked on to me, but we'll often start thinking about a song with that in mind. It's a massive advantage."

On their website Aereogramme appear in publicity shots as a bearded, black-clothed foursome apparently trying to drown each other in a bath. So image isn't priority number one then? McNeil laughs, "Yeah we all look fucking shocking! But I don't have a beef with the image thing, it's always been important to music. As long as the music is good it's fine if a band wants to look good too. The Arcade Fire look fantastic, but they're also a great band."

They may lack a personal stylist, but Aereogramme make up for this most minor of flaws with music that, like early Radiohead, is musically complex without the pretentions. If that is one way to solve the underground/popular conundrum mentioned earlier, then My Heart… could be their long overdue breakthrough. McNeil, for his part, looks to the coming year with characteristic Scottish realism. "I'm just looking forward to going out there and playing the songs because that's what I know is gonnae happen. If anything happens beyond that, absolutely brilliant. If it doesn't, I don't really care."