PROVING that all the fun in the North wasn’t just happening with the sound and style of Madchester in the early 1990s, Milltown Brothers put Colne on the musical map when they skydived into the charts with their smash hit Which Way Should I Jump?.

Their debut album, Slinky, was packed full of jangling pop picks too, and who can forget Here I Stand, the theme tune for BBC comedy drama Preston Front, Now, a quarter of a century later, Milltown Brothers are set to release their fourth album.

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There’s also a special Milltown Brothers comeback show at the Gigantic Indie Pop Festival in Manchester on Saturday.

“There’s a bit of trepidation, but so far it’s been a nice experience with no big decisions to make and no real pressure,” said front man Matthew Nelson.

“There’s no pretence anymore, we’re not young lads out to forge a career.

“It’s about being together doing songs we really enjoy playing.”

Unlike many band re-unions who re-emerge after years in hibernation with different personnel, they boast the original five-piece – Matthew, older brother Simon Nelson (guitar), James Fraser (bass), Barney Williams (organ/piano) and Nian Brindle (drums) The album title – Long Road – says Matthew is self-explanatory adding: “The new record is a bit more mellow and retrospective.

“I think it just fizzled out for us after the second album (Valve, 1993) because it was all about Nirvana then and times had changed completely.

“I suppose it was a bit of an unsatisfactory end.

“We hadn’t done any writing for a very long time, and I wasn’t really missing it because we all had busy stuff going on in our own lives.

“Then I started writing on and off at home a couple of years ago, eventually playing the new songs to a couple of band members.

“We went to Spain to record a lot of the songs, with James living out there at the time, and a week away with your friends playing a bit of music in the sunshine is quite nice isn’t it? It has all happened by chance I suppose.”

One of Nelson’s favourite bands – Echo and the Bunnymen – headline Gigantic, with Gang of Four, The Woodentops, Inspiral Carpets and the Primitives all on a storming Bank Holiday bill.

“We’d like to play a few dates to back the album up, probably some in Lancashire.

“The record’s set to come out on Ditto Music, online, and we’ll see if there’s interest, with a view to do some more gigs.

He added: “We played some great gigs at the Academy. I remember Oasis supporting us there.

“We also supported The La’s there, and I loved that.

“I do look back with a great deal of fondness to those early days and what we did.

“This time, though, we want something a bit more mellow, a little bit more acoustic, less over-driven by guitars and I think we’ve achieved that. ”

  • Milltown Brothers play the second stage, Gigantic Festival, Manchester Academy 2, Saturday, May 23. Doors open at 1.30pm. Details from 0161 832 1111.