Alphabeat

There's six of them: three Anders, a Rasmus, a Troels and a Stine. They come from Denmark. And they make the sort of giddy, dayglo pop music that makes everyone from your kid sister to your boozy Aunt Bridget to your octogenarian grandmother want to leap up and shake their tailfeather. With new single '10,000 Nights' rapidly taking over the airwaves, we caught up with singers Stine and Anders SG to find out more about Alphabeat.

Your new single, '10,000 Nights', has an interesting opening line: "I was not looking for arty-farty love." What exactly is "arty-farty love"?
Stine: "It's just a boring kind of love I guess."
Anders SG: "You know boys and girls who look really cool, but are actually really dull when you get to know them, they have "arty-farty" love. But sometimes arty-farty love can be alright, you know."

Is arty-farty love the sort of thing Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow might have?
Anders SG: "Yes. I hope they have a genuine relationship with genuine affection for each other, but it could very well be arty-farty love. Lots of celebrities have arty-farty love - maybe Rihanna and Chris Brown do? There is a lot of arty-farty love around."

Your last single, 'Fascination', is still lodged in the top 20 after two-and-a-half months. Why do you think it's proving so popular?
Stine: "It's a very instant pop song and that's what we're about: songs that people just want to dance to straight away."
Anders SG: "On the other hand, when we released it in Denmark it didn't reach its peak until it had spent six or seven months on the chart. I think it's instant but some people have to be persuaded that it's actually a good song. They might be turned off at the beginning because it has a really bright pop sound. I kinda tell myself that's why it didn't get to number one."

Well, ten weeks in the top 20 isn't too shabby...
Anders SG: "Yeah, it's a good thing actually, and we were kinda expecting it because of what happened in Denmark."

Do you feel welcomed by British music fans?
Anders SG: "What we're enjoying here is that people are very open-minded and seem to have a really genuine love for music. They don't care really if the song's by Klaxons or CSS or Alphabeat as long as they like it. In Denmark people are more afraid of being into pop bands. They're more concerned about being cool because they're always looking at what's going on in America and the UK."

You've often cited The B-52s as one of your major influences. Have you heard their new album?
Stine: "I heard one of their new songs in the CD store and it sounded pretty good."
Anders SG: "I saw the CD in the store but I was a bit afraid of the picture on the cover. Have you heard it? What's it like?"

It's pretty good, but not what you'd call a step forward.
Anders SG: "It's dangerous when these bands come back - look at New Kids On The Block. They're one of our favourite boybands but now they're getting back together I really doubt something very good will come out of it."

Why's that?
Anders SG: "They're a manufactured band who were great at the time but it was very much a period thing. They were one of the first proper boybands but it was an eighties thing. Now it's like they're out of a time capsule."

Alphabeat release '10,000 Nights' on May 26.