When Hurts first caught the eye of the music press in 2009, there was very little of substance to go on.

The duo, Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson, had only written and recorded a handful of songs when they posted the stark, black-and-white video to Wonderful Life online.

Little else was known about them, with the pair, friends from a couple of previous bands in Manchester, talking enigmatically in early interviews while wearing immaculate suits.

Even if there wasn't much other music to back up the early promise of Wonderful Life, journalists took a leap of faith, believing Hurts' slick aesthetic to be worthy of more attention.

Without playing any gigs at all, Hurts appeared on the BBC's Sound Of 2010 list, their annual poll of emerging artists to look out for.

That faith was well placed, it turned out. They released their debut album Happiness that same year and it more than delivered on the promise. It also went on to become the fastest-selling debut released in the UK that year, while charting highly all over the rest of Europe. Hutchcraft and Anderson have toured almost solidly since then.

Naturally, following the album up would be difficult, but it didn't faze the duo too much.

“We talked about making the [next] record a lot before we even started doing it, you know, when we were on tour or whatever,” says Hutchcraft, 26.

“We toured for a long time and had not been able to write, meaning we’d had all these ideas bottled up for ages. We were worried that after so long we might not be able to write any more songs. You know, had we forgotten how to do it? Fortunately, once we did stop touring we started straight away and it happened very quickly.”

In the years prior to unveiling Hurts, Hutchcraft, originally from Richmond in North Yorkshire, and Anderson, from Stockport, were signing on, unable to find work in Manchester. It was a grim time but their end goal kept them going.

They knew when it came to writing again, there was only one place they'd go: back to Manchester, where they rented a flat on the same street in which they used to live.

“It was a bit weird having the same corner shop again,” says Hutchcraft, “and occasionally we'd forget we were in a pretty successful band and think we were on the dole again, but it just made sense to go back to Manchester. I don't think we even discussed it, we just assumed we'd go back.”

It's the place which Hutchcraft says gives them a bit of perspective on what they've accomplished, and once they got back there the songs quickly started flowing.

“We wanted to challenge ourselves and take a step forward. That's a hard thing to do, but very rewarding.”

Their second album Exile, as it would become, was taking shape. Hurts, Manchester Academy, Monday, April 1.