TIM HUGHES finds a band that have endured the rocky moments and emerged stronger for it.

IF any band around today is worthy of a movie, it has to be The Delays.

The Hampshire indie-rockers are accomplished musicians with a great line in glistening pop grandeur. But it’s the overriding comedy and tragedy that underlies their gigging existence which marks them out as an iconic touring band.

Their life on the road is littered with the wreckage of crashes, mishaps, and breakdowns – both mechanical and mental.

The weirdest, though, recalls singer and keys man Aaron Gilbert, befell him at a motorway service station one cold, winter night.

“I was left behind in the car park in the middle of the night, wearing just my boxer shorts,” he says, flinching at the memory.

“It was minus eight, and I’d just got off the bus for a cigarette, when they drove off without me. They didn’t realise I wasn’t there, and I didn’t have a phone.

“I was stuck there an hour-and-a-half before they came back. I had to hide in a toilet to keep warm.

“We also had three bus crashes in two days,” he goes on, describing each collision in gory detail. “So much stuff happens to us – it turns every day into an adventure.

“But then I can’t do ‘boring’! I love being on the road with my mates.”

Aaron is talking to me from his hometown of Southampton, while leaving his brother Greg, and fellow bandmates Colin Fox and Rowly to get on with the business of packing their gear for yet another tour, which, on Sunday reaches Oxford.

“I’m still recovering from a little soiree we had last night as a send-off,” he groans. “And I’ve got man-flu. I’m quite good at being ill. I’m still recovering from being born.”

The band have spent much of the time since their last tour working on their much anticipated fourth studio album Star Tiger Star Ariel.

The album is a stripped-back affair, inspired by Southampton and its leafy environs. Aaron describes it as a soundtrack to late-night drives through the New Forest and sunrise at the docks. It is deep, ambitious and haunting – and different from anything they’ve done previously. It also follows a rocky period which almost saw The Delays implode.

“I’ve had all sorts of traumas in real life and in my head and have experienced the whole gamut of emotions from the depths of despair to the biggest highs.

“It got to the point where it seemed easier to break up than be in a band with my brother. We know each other too well. We really fell out and didn’t speak for months.

“You can’t spend that much time with someone who knows you well and not fall out. But I’m acutely aware of when I’m being an idiot, and can’t hold a grudge for long.”

“Anyway, it’s nice to have something to argue about; it shows we care about what we’re doing.”

The tensions saw the band taking a break. “We came back after the last album and just hung out as mates,” says Aaron. “We’d go to the beach and out to the New Forest, and found beauty in the absolutely normal.”

And that shines through on the album: “I want our music to soundtrack what we are looking at. It’s like being in a film,” he says.

“But we also have to feel enthused by what we are doing – and we do.”

The Delays play Oxford O2 Academy on Sunday, tickets £10. Doors 7pm.