Pulled together under the name Simple Creatures (Mark: “The name’s a little weird, a little quirky, a little off”), of the tracks played to Kerrang! in a sneak preview, the ethereal pop of How To Live is a pulsing blend of whip-snap grooves and brooding lyricism. Meanwhile, Adrenaline begins with a brand of spiralling, scorched-earth guitars as used by ’80s goth-pop flag bearers The Cure on their 1987 album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Its sugar-coated chorus is underpinned by instantly memorable vocals – ‘Come on, hit me with adrenaline!’ – although the song may have given Mark a subconscious message.

“The idea behind the lyrics was when somebody makes you feel like you’ve died and come back to life,” he says. “Like that scene in Pulp Fiction when John Travolta pumps a syringe into Uma Thurman – it’s an adrenaline shot directly into the heart. Which, I didn’t realise until this interview, right now, is actually a metaphor for my process in this whole thing. Going into the studio, writing music, and getting the joy of writing something brought me to a happier place. I can’t wait for people to hear it.”

Friendship and respect sit at the heart of Simple Creatures’ creative emergence, a project that should have started life as a revolving door band, or as Alex describes it, “Mark Plus, with a bunch of people he knew.” But having recorded a handful of tracks in a short time with the All Time Low frontman, there was no need to ask for reinforcements. Mark had found the perfect studio foil. “I ended up not calling any of my other friends,” laughs Mark. “Alex and I seemed to mesh very well together and we were in the same place musically. It all fell into place in a really good way.”