So after [Carey] Mulligan and [Norah] Jones, is there anyone else Belle & Sebastian would be keen to work with? The band consider the idea for a moment, before recalling that, at the behest of [Sarah] Martin, they had asked the physicist Professor Brian Cox to be on the album cover, but he was too busy. “But anyway, can Cox sing?” wonders [Stuart] Murdoch.

“He can play keyboards!” Martin leaps to the professor’s defence, and the band all turn to face [Chris] Geddes, their current keyboard player. “Ohh,” says Geddes, looking indignant. “Oh, OK. OK, I’ll take a hit for the team. So what am I supposed to do then? Just fuck off and do some physics?” He shakes his head. “This band’s going to break up over Brian Cox.”