Picture This talk evolution of their sound with new album MRDN LV: "We want to be the biggest band in the world"

The former duo have amped up their membership and sound for their second album.

"We wanted to come back with an album that was bigger and bolder than the first". Mission accomplished for Picture This.

The Irish band are back with their second album MDRN LV, the follow-up to their Number 1 self-titled debut, the best-selling Irish artist album for two years running.

Originally a duo of lead vocalist and guitarist Ryan Hennessy and drummer Jimmy Rainsford, the group have promoted touring guitarist Owen Cardiff and bassist Cliff Deane to full-time status, and more instruments in the studio have made for a polished, more mature sound - a richer experience that is mirroring the bigger venues the band now command. They have sold out five consecutive nights at Dublin's 3Arena, something that even U2 haven't done.

With three Top 20 singles in Ireland already in the bag for this album, and making strides in the UK and beyond, Picture This' goal - to be "the biggest band in the world" - is starting to take shape.

Let's get this out of the way, did you suffer from 'second album syndrome' during the making of MDRN LV?

Ryan: “It’s always a scary time between recording an album and putting it out. The second album syndrome thing never entered our heads at all. We’ve never felt any pressure in that way. We just wanted to make an ever better record. It’s been great to get the singles out and see people reacting so well.”

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The album's sound is rockier and more guitar-driven than your debut. A lot of bands tend to do the opposite when they experience chart success...

Ryan: “I would have been easy for us to do the same album again, but I find this album a lot poppier than the first album, if anything. This is the most 'Picture This' sounding album. It’s the music that we listen to and we think that its music that we should create.”

Jimmy: “There was a lot of different influences for us coming into this album. We had listened to a lot of different music and discovered a lot of artists from the time of releasing our first album and recording the second – all the way from people like Jon Bellion, Charlie Puth to a lot of Snow Patrol.”

Owen and Cliff are now officially part of the group. Why did you decide to up the numbers?

Jimmy: “Me and Ryan started the band but Owen and Cliff were with us from the very beginning, playing with us from the very start. They’ve always been there so it’s nice now for us to actually establish that. We were seen as a duo but we’ve always been a band."

What is MDRN LV going to tell us about Picture This that your self-titled debut?

Ryan: "For the first album, I was writing as a 20, 21-year-old so I’d never seen much of the world. I’d never really been out of Ireland. As that album took off, it took me and the lads around the world. I had seen so many amazing things and it really changed me as a person. I had to grow up fast and I think you can hear that in the lyrical story of this album. This album lyrically and sonically is a lot more mature.”

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There’s a vibrant Irish music scene at the moment; who are some of your favourite peers?

Ryan: “The Academic are a band that we enjoy – they’re old school rock and roll and great lads. Dermot Kennedy as well, it’s great seeing him do so well internationally."

There’s been a lot of talk on social media about you guys collaborating with Lewis Capaldi - we would like to hear that!

Ryan: “Lewis is supporting us for the five nights at the 3Arena and we’re going to have a studio set up in our dressing room. He’s a lovely lad and we’re definitely wanting to work with him. Dagny is also opening up for us and we might do some writing with her. She’s an amazing artist.”

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You've started promoting more outside of Ireland. Is world domination the goal?

Ryan: "As soon as we started out as a band, we wanted to be the biggest band in the world. Not just in Ireland. That's still our ambition. I don't see why we can't be the next Irish Number 1. We don't have tactics - we're just creating music that we love. We want to make music for the right reasons. We're very confident that any of our songs could have the potential to be our first Number 1.

Picture This' new album MDRN LV is out now.