Vocalist-guitarist Jeremy Redmore, speaking from Sydney yesterday, said the band were in the late stages of writing the so-far untitled follow-up, before recording at the Grove Studios for release next year.
They released their first single from the sophomore effort, Just for Once, on August 31, and just filmed their latest video, which will be premiered on C4 on September 27.
"We're really excited about it. We released our first album two and a-half years ago and we'd written the songs years before, so it's good to have some of our new material reflect our experiences since then," Redmore said.
"The second album is going to be much more consistent, people have responded to it really well.
"We want to be New Zealand's best rock band and we want to write songs we can picture playing at huge festivals."
Redmore, keyboardist-guitarist Nick Campbell, guitarist-vocalist Simon Oscroft, bass player Matt Warman and drummer Aidan Bartlett, based in both Auckland and Sydney, toured with Birds of Tokyo as part of their Australian tour in May and June. The tour consolidated the band's four national tours of Australia, playing 40 dates in all major centres, in 2009.
"We were basically starting from scratch. No-one had a clue who were were ... It took Shihad three years to do anything here.
"We've been told Australia sees New Zealand as an overseas market, so we're competing with the best in the UK and US, and they don't see why they should [give preferential playlist treatment on the radio].
"But Australians love live music. It's good for the band, keeps us really fresh and driven, and we get really excited when we go back to New Zealand."
• Midnight Youth, with support from Knives at Noon, of Dunedin, at Revolver, Friday, September 17, doors 8pm. Earlybird tickets $15 from Quest and Eventfinder, door sales $25. R18.
