The brother-sister combo of Romeo/Michelle Stodart (their mother's named Juliette) and Sean/Angela Gannon that comprise The Magic Numbers took a total of one day off after the Flaming Lips tour before heading back into the studio to record the followup to their eponymous debut.

One day. If such a schedule sounds a little hurried, the resulting album, Those The Brokes, sounds anything but. More expansive, more complex, denser than the first album, the 65 minutes of music had been in gestation throughout the band's wanderings.

Romeo, you see, never stops writing. On the tour bus, during soundchecks, you name it. Even when he's asleep, songs come to him, but more of that later.

"We felt we took our time, so it doesn't feel like a rushed album, " says Angela, trying to ignore the funny faces that the rest of the band are making at her. "It was easy to stay in that head space and just get on and do it and really focus on it."

The Numbers' first album was written and recorded during intervals between gigs that sometimes lasted as long as three weeks. "In a way, that made the first album take that little bit longer, but this time we were able to stay in the one place. As soon as we were in the studio, we knew what we wanted to make."

So presumably these songs had been with them from soundchecks and were pretty much fully formed before recording? "Yeah. They all kind of came into their own life back in January when we went in to rehearse, but by the time we went in to record, they had changed so much. They are even changing now that we are going in to play them live. On the first album, the songs had reached the point at where they were going to get because we played them so much, but these songs are still in transition."

Those The Brokes is a lot more intricate than the debut, the melodies less immediate. "We wanted to make it sound fuller, not have a new sound, but something extra, " says Angela, explaining how the nine-piece orchestra, arranged by Robert Kirby (who did the same for Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left and Bryter Later) fit in to the project. "Romeo has always dreamed of having strings on a record, and the songs told us instantly which ones would be suitable."

One of these is a track called 'Goodnight', which features harp and violin. This song must be a candidate for the Guinness Book of Records, as another brother and sister duo play on it. The story goes like this: Romeo bought himself a musicians' union book and invited a load of people to a party, meeting Welsh siblings Ang Harris and Rodrey Davis. "He made great friends with Rodrey, " says Angela.

"Then he found out his sister played violin, so it turned out pretty well."

Another progression on the album is that Romeo doesn't hog all the lead vocals. His sister Michelle wrote and sings 'Take Me Or Leave Me' while Angela steps forward on 'Undecided'. Naturally shy, the thought of playing it live terrifies her. "I was a bit nervous about the whole thing, to be honest, but Romeo really wanted both myself and Michelle to sing on the album to put across different sides to the band's vocal range, and it definitely does that. I didn't think that I could pull it off, and I'm still not sure that it didf" One thing that hasn't changed much is Romeo's melancholic meanderings on lost love and incompleteness. I wonder does the rest of the band ever get worried about him? "Yeah, sometimes, " Angela laughs. "I guess it's his way of coping with it, and it's almost easier to say in a song than talk about it. Writing and listening to music are the same in terms of making sense of my own feelings."

All the success, you feel, hasn't made Romeo or the rest of the band as happy as they thought it might. "There's no one thing that is going to make you happy or completely content. It's a mixture of things. I always knew success wouldn't be the be all and end all of everything, but I'm really happyf even when I was just playing in a band I couldn't have been happier."

Musically, the album is a progression of the same influences that led to the success of the debut.

The deference to Jimmy Webb, The Mamas And The Papas and the Beach Boys is still very much in evidence. In fact, one tune, 'Carl's Song', came to Romeo while he was sleeping.

"Yeah, " says Angela, "Carl Wilson appeared to Romeo in a dream and began singing this song to him. It's a pretty crazy story, but it's definitely the truth."

One thing the Numbers do plan to do is spend a bit more time closer to home . . . including Ireland where Angela and her drummer brother Sean still have cousins aplenty, in Mayo and Meath.

"They all came to the Oxegen festival and the Whelans show, and when we supported Morrissey, but when we go to Ireland, we never get a chance to go back to Meath or Mayof but the family are still looking out for us."

They are also big fans of David Kitt, with Romeo and Michelle guesting on his latest release, Not Fade Away. "All of us have been really big fans of his, so it was a big honour, " she says.

So having had a few minutes to reflect on the whirlwind ride that has seen popular music's nice guys thrive, what has been the most gratifying experience?

"Playing with bands that you really respect and having them respect you, " she says. "There's nothing like people who you like liking your stuff. It's one of the most amazing feelings in the world. Meeting people like Bono and Wayne Coyne, who is probably one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. We've done so much in such a short space of time. It's a bit nuts really."

'Those The Spokes' is out now on EMI Records/Heavenly The Magic Numbers will be playing in Ireland in December