WITH quirky lyrics and foot-stomping energy, married couple indie duo the Lovely Eggs went down a treat last time they visited Southend.

“We played the Railway,” says Holly Ross. “We can’t wait to get back – this time we’re playing at a place called Saks.”

Holly and husband David Blackwell have won themselves a cult following since forming in 2006 – and picking up support from the likes of Huw Stephens and Steve Lamacq.

But their latest offering, third album Wildlife which is released this month, sees them taking their talents in a slightly different direction from their trademark scratchy, punk sound.

“It’s hard to say exactly what makes it different,” muses Holly. “Perhaps there’s kind of more of our Sixties influence in there. In the past all our noise has come out and all our punk inspirations. We’re massive fans of Sixties music and that’s never come out.

“Three tracks have got Dave playing the sitar. Gruff Rhys produced the first single and he had an influence on that one.”

The pair were a bit nervous about having an outside force, having worked as a duo for so long, but Holly says Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff, who’s also worked with Mogwai and Gorillaz, was the perfect creative foil for their energy.

“He was great,” she says. “He’s lovely, really laid back. It was a perfect combination.

“We tried some different ideas to see what worked – the sitar was all Gruff’s fault really.

“He said at one point, ‘It would be amazing if there was a sitar on that bit’. We were like, ‘You do know, we’ve got a sitar and Dave can play it?’ He said, ‘You’re joking. Go and get it.’”

Duos are tricky to negotiate creatively – whether you’re husband and wife or not – but Holly says they seem to work together naturally, with their music evolving, without either of them pulling in one direction and creating friction.

She says: “It is strange. When we started the band we started writing songs together. Usually someone was playing guitar and one of us would sing, then we wanted to have a proper band and we knew it had to have drums – we didn’t want to be a folk band.

“So one of us had to learn and Dave learnt to play drums from scratch. So his style of playing is exactly in the style of the Lovely Eggs because he’s never played drums in another band before.

“Our songs feel so natural, they just come to us. I can only think it’s because the band formed and he learnt to play around it. He’s done really well has the lad.”

The Lovely Eggs are at Saks, Clifftown Road, Southend, with Fashoda Crisis, on Saturday from 9pm. Tickets are £6 in advance and £8 on the door. Visit fashoda crisis.bandcamp.com/merch