SINCE bouncing to prominence seven years ago with the spirited, electro-tinged, indie-pop of their Mercury-nominated debut, Vehicles And Animals, Athlete have sold more than a million copies of their three hit albums.

They’ve packed out venues across the land, picked up an Ivor Novello award and topped both the UK's album and airplay charts.

"We've definitely experienced the joys of life," says Joel, "whether it's all those things Athlete have achieved, or the birth of our kids. But, like anyone, we've had really difficult times too."

In the last few years, the band have lost close relatives, seen friends' marriages fall apart and suffered miscarriages. "The week [Athlete's 2005 hit single] Wires came out, myself and Joel both found out our partners had miscarried on the same day," remembers keyboard player Tim Wanstall. "That was definitely a black swan event for us. Until something like that happens, you don't really realise how fragile life is. And it definitely influences the way you look at the world afterwards."

They parted company with Parlophone at the beginning of 2008, after the takeover of EMI saw budgets frozen and most of the team Athlete had worked with for three albums made redundant.

"The EMI we knew isn't really there any more," says drummer Stephen Roberts.

Athlete were relieved to leave the label: in fact, they celebrated by having a curry and cracking open the champagne they'd been sent by Parlophone when they won their Ivor Novello for Wires. But that certainly doesn't mean the 15 months they spent without a label were easy.

"Luckily, we'd already built and paid for our own studio and when we were in there working on the new material, we were on a total high," explains bassist Carey Willetts. "But there were certainly no guarantees that we'd get another deal with a big label. And until we did, money was extremely tight. There were a couple of times where we could only afford to pay our mortgages for another month. It was very scary at points."

Using money they'd begged and borrowed, the band set to work making latest album Black Swan with producer Tom Rothcock, who'd been convinced to come along for the ride, label or no label, after falling in love with some acoustic demos. It seems that after a long break, Athlete are back on top of their game.

Athlete play the 02 Academy on November 16.