Flares

This gentle piano-based tune started off as love song. However, after Danny O'Donoghue's mother suffered a brain aneurysm as the band began recording, it took on new meaning for the frontman. "It's about faith - 'did you see the flares in the sky, were you blinded by the light…' And I did, yeah," admitted the otherwise sceptical vocalist. "The situation changed and it was a f---ing miracle." O'Donoghue added that the track is a "very uplifting song, about people getting past adversity. And when you're told by more than one doctor that your mum won't make it through the night… Well, the only person who changed that - challenged that - was my mum. And she fought her way through to where she is now."

This song was co-written and produced by OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder. Guitarist Mark Sheehan admitted to The Sun: "We do get a bit protective about opening up to other songwriters. Me and Danny are so tight as we have been writing and producing together for years. But Ryan is a friend and we shared our co-headline tour with OneRepublic in the US not long ago and that was great fun." "We played that song to him and he said that he could hear something in the chorus that would send it another 10% over the top," he added. "And it worked. He's a cool bloke."