The Charlatans talks ahead of gig at Wolverhampton Civic

Their new album, Different Days, sees the band at the top of their game with special guests including Paul Weller, Johnny Marr and New Order’s Stephen Morris.

It earned rave reviews, with Q describing it simply as ‘a wondrous record’.

And the band are following its release with a headline UK tour, including a show tonight at Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall.

Lead singer Tim Burgess is thrilled that the band remain so popular. “It’s been good to see the response to where we are at this moment in time. We’ve only done a few festivals since the release of this album so it’ll be good to play constantly and get out on the road again.

“Some of the reviews were very positive and lots of people agree. You go out of your way to make the best you can at the time. You can’t really compare it to your other work.

“The guests started with the fact that we are pretty much a four-piece, really, now, so we don’t start have five people in a room.

“Stephen Morris, from New Order, was the first guest. After we’d written three or four tracks, he brought Gillian Gilbert along, from New Order. Then I bumped into Marr and then I bumped into Weller. It became a very social record. It became an album that featured people that we admire. These kind of things became very exciting as they evolve.”

Tim was particularly pleased to work with Johnny Marr and Paul Weller. He’s known Johnny since 1999 and their paths have crossed frequently. He could have worked with them on any album since that time.

“He’s played live with us a couple of times. This moment and this album was kind of like, everything fell into place. I bumped into Johnny at a record shop, Vinyl Revival, in Manchester. My partner was going to IKEA so I asked him if he wanted to come over to the studio. He seemed really thrilled that we were still in the same place and he came over with a guitar and the idea was that he would play on a song if he liked it.

“We played him Plastic Machinery and he loved it and played on it. Within half an hour it was done.”

Tim’s relationship with Paul goes way back. Both were clear that if they ever collaborated, quality would be key. They were determined that they would only put their names to something of the highest quality. “We started writing and he sent me a few things. We played a show together, The Charlatans and Paul Weller, in Italy. And he asked if I’d had the chance to do anything. I hadn’t, at that point. But then seeing him triggered something off. The following day I was at the airport on my own. I listened to his ideas again and I had the idea for the melody and the lyric. I wrote it at the airport. Paul loved it.”

Tim is amazed that the band is still a going concern. Former keyboardist Rob Collins, from Rowley Regis, recorded five albums – despite being sent to prison for eight months after being found guilty of helping a friend commit an armed robbery.

Rob had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and claimed not to have known what was going on. He died in a car crash in 1996 after not wearing a seatbelt. Drummer Jon Brookes also died in 2013, at the age of 44, after succumbing to brain cancer.

“It’s an amazing thing, really, that we’re here. But I think we exist in the present day as people who are looking to move it forward. We’re not wishing it was like the old days. I don’t want to go back. There have been times when people have wanted me to but I never could.”

Jon’s presence lingers large. “I’ll always remember Jon at the beginning at how young he was and enthusiastic he was. He was this young, brilliant drummer. He was a real life force really. He was very creative. I dunno. He was just a really friendly guy, really. A lot of the music that we made, all of the music we made until Weirdo, was all of us just in a room playing together. That was how exuberant and how incredible we were at the beginning. It was just amazing. He was always really encouraging as everyone started to go. As a band now, I think we write a lot differently, though we’re a lot older and lots of things have changed.”

He’s looking forward to being back in the Black Country. Most of the band hail from the area and it was where they cut their teeth.

“I used to drive to Wednesbury to rehearse. It was great. It was a room in Wednesbury. I think it was a proper rehearsal room but I can never really remember anyone else being there. I used to drive down in my dad’s car on Sundays and Wednesday evenings, then drive back to Northwich.

“Martin (Blunt) used to take me to a club called the Punch and Judy. We were all listening to early Syd Barrett and Spaceman 3. That was how we stared.”