What was the thought process behind I’m Leaving? Was it a natural progression from Native To or something of a clean break?

It was a progression. Luke Smith taught us a lot about sound, each day was like a science lesson. We would start recording the track with giving him the 'busker version', as he put it, and then worked on what was strong about the song. Native to was more of a collage of sounds that was really played around with afterward. On I'm Leaving we made sure that we made the right sound before we started to record. We also had lots of vintage guitars and synths to work with and record with Soviet era microphones.

There seems to be more of an emphasis on melodic vocals on this record judging from the songs we’ve heard so far, is this a deliberate move?

Yes and this time we didn't want to hide them in the mix.

What was it like working with Luke Smith (producer of Foals' Total Life Forever) on the new album?

Luke Smith is a true lad. We did really long days and he would work you very hard. You'll be playing the same thing over and over until you're bleeding until he thinks it the right performance.

The video for ‘Dancing Anymore’ definitely makes an impression, and won’t be the first of your videos to go viral. How important is the visual side of what you do?

Very, all of our artwork and design is done by us, for the videos we like to work with friends. Megaforce, that did 'The Greeks' & 'Dancing Anymore' are the best directors around. We're lucky enough to work with them because we're friends and we give them 100% creative freedom, something they don’t get working with Madonna and Baileys.

Was the decision to stop wearing masks a part of this?

We wore masks to make the gig more performance based but it made people think we were arrogant and stand offish when all we wanted to do was meet people on the road and party with them. Also they started to smell real bad.

You’re probably the only band I know who’ve played in Mongolia. What was that like as an experience?

It was amazing! Not many bands have been there, Wu Tang & Boney M are the only ones I know. The people are amazing there and it's the only place I've been to in the world where you don't see westerners. Because an English band wanted to tour there they put us on TV, in all the big newspapers and put our songs on the radio. The gig was real crazy, people knew the words! We visited the orphanage and gave toys, stayed with a nomad family in their yurt, even killed and ate one of their sheep! We're now thinking where we can go next... maybe Bangladesh or somewhere in Africa.

Who are you listening to at the moment?

DIIV, Poolside, Mohanik, Ashworth, Total Warr, Vuvuvultures, Charlie Boyer and the Voyers and our good buddies Crystal Fighters!

'I’m Leaving' is out on Kitsuné on the 20th of May,

Is Tropical can be found on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/ISTROPICAL