It’s been four years since your last album. Since then, we’ve had the pandemic and you’ve had the departure of the band’s bassist and drummer. How does it feel to put an album out again?

Ana: Today, after waking up, I was having my coffee when the vinyl version arrived, and I started crying with emotion. We’ve had a very hard time. We’ve had to fight and work really hard. But we’ve had an absolutely blind faith, even when it seemed that the whole universe was sending us signs that it would be impossible to carry on. We didn’t look at those signs, deciding instead to look at each other and carry on… and on and on. And suddenly, it worked. We’re releasing the album on vinyl; we’ve gone all out.

It’s been said that it’s Hinds’s rawest and wildest album.

Carlotta: Our third album was sophisticated, filled with embellishments and much more expensive to produce. The years of bad luck we’ve had have completely destroyed our infrastructure and our resources. So, instead of fighting against that, we accepted what we had and decided to use the elements that were within our reach. There weren’t a lot of them, but we used them to put together the studio, the songs and the whole album. This album has been a tribute to simplicity.

Can we interpret the name of the record as a manifesto?

Carlotta: Yes, please. It’s a song of celebration that, really, the fans invented and that our family, friends and the people who love us very much have also adopted. During the bad times, they encouraged us a lot by saying “Long live Hinds!” When one doubts oneself and feels lost and alone in the world, it’s really necessary to have people around to remind you of who you are and why you do things... The album is a triumph of friendship and music.

What was the composition process like in the midst of adversity?

Ana: We’re still the same two people with a guitar or a keyboard, and that’s how the songs come about. What did change was the recording and production process. We did it in two houses in France that were not studios. We literally moved the sofas in the lounge to set everything up and record there. Being in a house took a bit of the pressure off of being in a studio, with all the money that costs, and it pretty much blurred that line between life, work and music.

You usually sing in English, but the album also includes ‘En forma’, your first song written entirely in Spanish. Was that deliberate?

Carlotta: That song was born on an Iberia flight going to New York. I came from a very difficult break-up, one of those splits that catch you at a bad time and can – truly – mess up your existence on this planet. It was one of the first times I found the strength to write something about the break-up without feeling ashamed about how I felt. The song came from my stomach, so it came out in Spanish.

Beck appears in the song ‘Boom Boom Back’. How did that collaboration come about?

Ana: We were in Los Angeles, and someone invited us to a private screening of a documentary. We went, and then we were invited to a bar. And who was there having a beer? Beck. So, we went over to him and introduced ourselves. And we got along very well. That week we met quite a bit after work. On one of those days – filled with excitement because we had just written ‘Boom Boom Back’ on that trip – we said to him, “Hey, do you want to hear what we’re working on?” We played him the song and he loved it. We saw a little window of opportunity and, jokingly, we said to him, “Would you like to collaborate with us?” And he said, “OK!” it was that simple.

Is this album the beginning of a new stage?

Ana: It’s a resurrection. It doesn’t mean that we weren’t here before but, of course, a part of us has died and been born again.

From the beginning, you’ve generated a lot of interest in the United States and England. How have you experienced that success?

Carlotta: It wasn’t in our plans. They showed interest and we went there to play. We invested our time, money and effort in going there, but they were the ones who contacted us, saying, “We want you to come”. We received 800 offers from promoters, record companies and booking agents.

It’s been eight years since your first album. What’s changed for you since then?

Carlotta: We have more calluses on our hands and our skin is not as thin, but our innate rowdiness has remained. We still have quite an allergy to authority, in general. And we’re more aware of everything and how great our friendship is. At first, we thought we were going to find friends like this often in life, but it’s never easy. Don’t ever think there are two Ana Perrotes, OK?