The Minor Things in Life

First things first; don't call it a supergroup. "I understand it," shrugs Rachel Goswell, with something of a resigned smile. "There's people from three bands in one new band, I get it. But to me it screams of massive egos, and it doesn't sit well with me. I read a review where someone basically said, 'the album is superb, but they're a supergroup, so why should we care?' As if, because we're in other bands, there's no point. But the point is that we like making good music."

That, they've most certainly done - just not the way one might expect. Minor Victories' self-titled debut was constructed long-distance, the album entirely the product of back-and-forth emails - a decidedly unorthodox affair, to say the least. "We'd have 20 emails a day flying about," Rachel explains. "Occasionally something might get lost in translation, but it was easy enough to iron things out. It was always pretty exciting to see what pinged in the inbox; I don't think there was ever a nasty surprise waiting."

With the quartet including Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai and Justin Lockey of Editors - along with younger Lockey brother James - unexpected unpleasantries were always unlikely. Indeed, the vocalist reports that the process was incredibly creatively fertile. "There was definitely a lot of freedom, being able to experiment alone at home, rather than being in the studio with a lot of different people and loads of opinions being thrown around. Musically there was never any discussion about how something was going to sound. It turned out the way it has because we all put little bits of ourselves in."

Surely that means that, by the time the email chain comes full circle, things can end up pretty removed from where they started? "'Breaking My Light' was probably the one that changed the most," reveals Goswell. "I'd written it on piano, with one verse and a chorus. What I got back was completely reworked, with strings, drums, Stuart's guitars, and I needed to add two more verses. It was incredible what they'd done to it, and it might be the song I'm most proud of - and it's great to play live." Considering it started as an experiment, at what point was the decision made to take the show on the road? "We never really had the discussion until we were halfway through - it was Stuart who said he wanted to tour it. I hadn't thought about it logistically, but once he said it, then it was kind of obvious we really should."

Given the way the industry is these days, if the Mogwai man hadn't made the suggestion, a bank manager probably would have... "I don't know how some bands can sustain themselves. I find it difficult to sustain myself, if I'm honest, because it's really not financially easy at the moment. If everybody who liked the Minor Victories page on Facebook actually bought the album, then we'd be sorted - but that's not how it goes. In a way, it's a bit of a death in terms of musicians being able to have a livelihood. But we've invested so much time and effort in this record, it would be criminal not to go out and promote it and tour it."

That, in itself, has presented a new challenge. "Because I'm the singer in the band, and we don't have another one, I guess I'm leading the band on the live front. That's different to Slowdive, and having Neil [Halstead] there too, so it's a learning curve - a lot of this project is. Having watched a few bands during the summer, I've decided that when it comes to between-song banter, less really is more."

And after the sight of Chvrches' Lauren Mayberry chatting Pokemon GO with the Longitude crowd recently, this writer would have to agree. "Oh, Stuart is completely addicted to it," she reveals with a grin. "He's just gone on holiday with his girlfriend. He's like, "Sorry Elizabeth...but they have Pokemon GO in Italy!" Now that's every kind of wrong, isn't it?"

We'll be sure to have words with Mr. B next time we cross paths! In any case, there'll be plenty of opportunity for the rest of the Minor Victories crew to send a stern email or two; far from a one-off effort, a three-album deal means there's lots more to come from the collective. "The boys are gathering things right now, despite being so busy," says Rachel. "There's a Slowdive album that should arrive early next year. We're busy." She pauses. "But since when is that a bad thing?"

Minor Victories is out now on PIAS