The Vamps have told how their latest EP has been their biggest challenge to date.
The British four-piece, who have made their name with their pop-rock sound, have opened up about starting from the ground up on their latest musical release.
Their four track EP, out on April 19, titled Missing You, marks the first time the group have swapped their annual record for a full project written and produced by themselves.
Lead singer Bradley Simpson told the Standard: “This EP is a natural progression. There is an element that you’ve got to actively try and progress as a musician, a producer and songwriter to move forward.
“It was more of a challenge but that’s the only space we can grow in. You set that bar and you’re like we’ve got to meet that now because there’s no one else you can blame it on.”
Simpson said the EP has served as a trial to see if they could fully write and produce a whole album in the future.
He said: “I view the EP as a case study of what the next album could be like so this is dipping our toe on whether we could produce and write a whole album by ourselves with no outside input and I think that’s the goal in the future.”
He added that the stakes are higher for the group having put “all of us” into each song.
Simpson said: “The songs on the previous albums have been really special but these are really special because it’s like putting a part of you out there so it is like ‘please don’t hate it’ but you’ve just got to know that you love it.”
The EP marks the most diverse musical release for the group to date and features a surprise collaboration with British rap duo Krept and Konan.
Guitarist and singer in the group James McVey said: “Each song has a moment so Missing You is quite an emotional song and you put that alongside Right Now with Krept and Konan they’re very different sounding songs but they each have a space on the EP and I think when you have [less] space to fill you can really think about which tracks to put in and with these they felt obvious to be there.”
The group headline the O2 Arena on May 25.
