Curtain rises again for Two Door Cinema Club

SUCCESS can be a double-edged sword: just ask Two Door Cinema Club.

When their first two albums - Tourist History (2010) and Beacon (2012) - turned the trio of frontman Alex Trimble, guitarist Sam Halliday and bassist Kevin Baird into indie pop sensations, the pressure of promoting the records and relentless touring took its toll on the Irish band and caused it to implode.

By 2014, things had gotten so bad that the three could no longer be in the same room with each other, let alone share the same stage. Going their separate ways was the only solution for the curtain not to come down on Two Door Cinema Club.

So the members took an 18-month break to rediscover themselves before eventually getting back to make their third album Gameshow, released last October.

The band is now back on the road and will play Singapore next week as part of its current world tour to promote the record. This will be the third time that it is performing here.

"There are certainly things we're more conscious of doing better this time around but I wouldn't say we have regrets - it was what it was," says Trimble, via an email interview ahead of the gig, about the bad blood that is now water under the bridge.

"These days it's all about having a better balance between home life and touring life; we force ourselves to communicate more now too, even if it's not an easy subject," he adds.

Wary of the pitfalls of being constantly on the road, Trimble has also learnt to appreciate the simple pleasures that come from whatever downtime he now gets.

When asked what is the first thing he does when he gets home, the 27-year-old reveals that he looks forward to unpacking his suitcase - even if it's only for 24 hours. "When you're away all the time, you miss putting your clothes in drawers," he explains.

The new record, like Beacon before it, is produced by hitmaker Jackknife Lee who has previously worked with the likes of U2, REM, Taylor Swift, The Cars, Weezer, Robbie Williams and more.

Challenging the band to channel the spirits of pop icons like Prince, Madonna, Paul McCartney and Chic, and funnel it through Krautrock, neo soul and modernist pop, Lee has produced what is arguably Two Door Cinema Club's most danceable and funkiest album to date.

On making Gameshow, Trimble shares: "The process was uniquely different from our previous two albums - during the writing, the three of us were scattered around the globe from London, Portland and LA (so) we wrote a lot individually and hooked up over email as opposed to actually being in a room together as we'd done before."

Trimble is looking forward to returning to play here next week. "The food! We love coming to Singapore and having such a variety of awesome food," he quips. "We also want to check out the big artificial trees (Garden by the Bay's Supertree Grove)!

After selling out their previous two shows here at the Esplanade in 2011 and 2013, Two Door Cinema Club can expect the same enthusiastic response from its fans - not that the band needs any reminder of the locals' love for it.

Asked what is his favourite memory of performing in Singapore: Trimble replies: "One time when we played, we decided to do a meet-and-greet with a few fans after the show. Turns out basically the whole gig lined up to have things signed - a couple of thousand people - and it took us like three hours!"