Select magazine was a monthly music publication that covered broadly the same musical ground as the weekly NME and Melody Maker. Its longer release cycle and larger format, though, meant that it was able to be a little more thoughtful and in-depth.

Press was still a relatively new thing for the band at this point. They were still learning how to do it, in many ways. I do remember much later, in the X&Y era, talking to Will after he’d done months of interviews for that record. He claimed he was completely addled and had reached the point where he could do an entire interview with all the quotable material required to make a great article – without the interviewer even having to be present.

It’s an interesting concept – and one which I’m sure several journalists would be happy to experiment with…

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