As he prepares to release his second album, Miles Kane talks to Andy Welch about proving his doubters wrong

POOR Miles Kane is full of cold. Not that he can afford to stay in bed dosed up on Lemsip, because there’s the small matter of an album release to prepare for.

“What with photoshoots, interviews, promo and rehearsals for the tour, I haven’t got much time to feel sorry for myself,” he says, all bunged up.

“It’s great to be back working and so busy, though. I’m buzzing and hopefully I can just forget about being ill.”

Don’t Forget Who You Are is what’s taking his mind off the sniffles. It’s his second album, the follow- up to his solo debut Colour Of The Trap which was released in May 2011.

The album peaked at No 11 in the charts, which might not sound much, but considering it was released in a time when Sixties-inspired guitar music such as his was about as unfashionable as it had been for years, it was bordering on a small miracle.

“It feels very different this time around,” he says.

“It’s more of a confident, direct record. Everything I experienced and the level we got to with Colour Of The Trap has given me a real foundation to build on.

“It feels so solid. I’ve never gone into a record knowing what I want so much. I wanted to make a Friday night record, something you put on before you go out.”

If the Wirral lad has one eye on where he might end up, he’s not forgetting his roots. He says the album’s title serves as much as a reminder for himself as anyone buying it.

“That’s my mum’s butcher’s shop on the cover,”

he says. “That’s her market stall in Liverpool. In the picture you can see her working, with my aunty in the background. I used to work there as a kid.”

After starting out in The Little Flames and moving on to The Rascals, before becoming more widely known as part of Last Shadow Puppets, with good friend Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, Kane is finally achieving the level of success he dreamed of.

For a time, he was labelled as “Alex Turner’s mate” and when it came to releasing his first solo album there were those who thought his own work wouldn’t amount to much. “We went from tiny gigs, playing to 80 people up and down the country, to decent-sized venues quite quickly, because I stuck at it and won people over.

“If there were any doubters then, hopefully, I showed them with the success of the first album.

With this second album, I should seal the deal.”

For now, with Kane’s album in the offing and another Arctic Monkeys album due before the end of the year, the side project remains on the back burner.

At first it seemed the hiatus was simply down to two busy schedules not allowing the time to write and record it. Now, five years on, it might be a brilliant long-game marketing strategy.

“I’ve been answering the question about another album with Al for the past five years,” he says, “and I know it’s a sign of affection. The thing is, the longer we leave it, the more people seem to want it, so maybe we’ll leave it for years and years. Whenever we hit it again, it’ll be really special.”

TOUR DATES: May 5 – Sunderland Independent, May 6 – Middlesbrough Empire, May 14 – The Duchess, York

  • Don’t Forget Who You Are is out on Monday, June 3