Biffy Clyro have told RTÉ Entertainment that it is "bonkers" how they have unwittingly created a lockdown anthem with their new ballad Space - written and recorded before the Covid-19 emergency began.
The track comes at the halfway point - five songs before, five songs after - of the trio's just-released album A Celebration of Endings and has already become a fan favourite, with some mentioning it in the same breath as the band's most-famous ballad, Many of Horror.
Drummer Ben Johnston told RTÉ Entertainment that he, his bassist brother James and singer-guitarist Simon Neil have only realised while doing interviews how relevant the lines, "No matter the distance between us, our joy lives in the moments we share. Love sure is meaningless when you're not there. Will you wait, will you wait for me?" are to recent months.
"It's bonkers - just how the lyrics have taken on this different meaning," he said. "It keeps blowing my mind daily that I hear a lyric that I've heard for ages and I think about it in a new light and I'm convinced Simon is clairvoyant.
"The song Space is actually a bit of a friendship song. I know it sounds more kind of like a soppy love song - it is a love song, but a love song about friendship and not about a couple.
"It's a beautiful ballad. Simon can really turn his hand to that; he's written a few now. He's able to get that perfect balance where it's not cheesy, it's heartfelt beauty. I think this is definitely one of his strongest ones. It's just a really nice turning point for the album."
Johnston added that he feels other lyrics on the record also apply to what people have been going through during the pandemic.
"There's so many little lyrics I could pick out, like even Tiny Indoor Fireworks [where] we're talking about praying for the better days," he said. "You've also got songs like North of No South - 'Have you ever been a place from which you couldn't leave but of course you couldn't stay?'
"All these lyrics keep popping out that are incredibly poignant. It takes my breath away every time I notice it. All we ever want is to give somebody a little bit of solace, a little bit of comfort."
A Celebration of Endings is out now on 14th Floor Records.
