“Here’s a bit of a curveball. This is a record with no drummer on it whatsoever, except for very, very simple drum machine. The band is a bass player, keyboard player, and then the guitarist-singer Paul Buchanan. Between the three of them, they obviously decided what the drums should do.

“The album came at a time in my life when I was searching for answers, and I became completely addicted to it. A record only comes along every 10 or 15 years where I wake up in the morning and crave it. I couldn’t stop listening to it, and during those times when I wasn’t listening to it, I was walking down the street singing it to myself. It’s quite an extraordinary record.

“Around this time, I stopped thinking like a drummer and started thinking like a musician. This is a great album, with beautifully crafted songs and the most incredible vocal performance I’ve ever heard. The background effect of very simple drum machine, which quite often played a one-bar loop through the song, didn’t offend me; in fact, it turned the attention completely on to the singer.

“It made me realize that the drums don’t always have to be in your face, stealing the show. Sometimes the best part you can come up with… is nothing. Maybe I won’t play through the first verse. Maybe I should come in on the first chorus. Some songs are best without drums, or maybe they should have something very simple.”