Younghusband’s recently released Crystal EP follows their debut single, Carousel/Nothing,Nothing, which we heard back in June. The four tracks on Crystal throw thick layers of sound at their impressively infectious pop hooks. The Casio-keyboard rhythms on the swinging ballad, Constantly in Love, tick amidst the warm waves of guitars and synth-work. And two tracks later we are in hazy Kraut-rock territory with Special Reunion, a blissful piece of pop if ever we’ve heard one. So for a band that only got it together last year, it’s looking like 2012 could be a busy time for the London musicians.

We caught up with frontman Euan Hinshelwood to find out more about Younghusband:

Bowlegs: Having formed in 2010 to getting the attention of Marc Riley and Jarvis Cocker in 2011 – things seem to be moving fast?
Euan: Younghusband, as a project, has been around before 2010. It was the name I released my eight-track bedroom recordings, which I had been doing for a while before an actual band formed. This version of Younghusband has been in existence since late 2009/early 2010, but it’s a very different thing. We were going to change the name but decided against it; we thought it would be more honest to keep it, more representative of us and life in general – ups/downs/sudden changes. People can look back on the history of the band and find something, which is rare these days. My favourite bands have a long strange history and that’s what I would like us to have.

Bowlegs: Was it a process of elimination for what songs made it on to your new Crystal EP? Who gets the final vote?
Euan: There was no elimination really. We picked the four best songs we had at the time of deciding back in May – there really wasn’t too much discussion. Constantly In Love was absolutely going on, because the recorded version had been in existence for a while. We felt it was a strong sonic foundation for the feel of the EP – less guitar, more distorted droning organs.

Bowlegs: Was the recording process a positive experience?
Euan: Very positive and very quick. Like I mentioned, Constantly In Love was recorded a while back, the first thing we actually did together. The other three tracks were recorded in three days.

Bowlegs: Your sound seems to take in many influences – how do you write the songs and decide the direction each one takes?
Euan: I’m always amazed at how different a song can sound with the smallest change in drum beat/bass-line/structure. When I write at home I try to bare this in mind, not to scrap too much before I’ve taken it into a rehearsal room with the other guys. Sometimes I’ll map out a whole track at home, like our first single Nothing Nothing. I made a demo of that one afternoon and the released version is nearly identical. Other tracks very much develop and come together in the rehearsals. Generally the poppier tracks are formed at home, the more experimental tracks, like Reunion Message, come together as a band.

Bowlegs: Who made the wacky video (which we love) for Constantly In Love?
Euan: Ha ha ha … yeah it’s a French video artist called Elsa Phillipe – she is in it dressed as a teddy boy. Most of her videos would get taken down from YouTube so we had to set her a few guidelines.

Bowlegs: What’s your favourite track from the EP?
Euan: Reunion Message.

Bowlegs: Have you started writing an album yet?
Euan: Yep, we are forming it over the next few months and hopefully we’ll record it February/March time.

Bowlegs: Who came up with the band name – and are any of you young husbands?
Euan: None of us are actual young husbands. Younghusband is the surname of a character from a book called Seven Years in Tibet – that’s where I found it.

Bowlegs: What is the plan in 2012?
Euan: Hope to be touring at the start of it then record the album. That’s the most important thing.

Bowlegs: What has been your favourite record of 2011?
Euan: Forever Dolphin Love by Connan Mockasin.