Miles Kane tells TIM HUGHES about his new album and tour and much more besides

Relaxed and happy, Miles Kane is having a good time. But, then, isn’t he always? At home in London at the start of his tour, and with a new album under his skinny belt, the rock star, sex symbol and Mod icon insists he has never played better – and has never been happier.

“I’ve shifted up a gear in terms of writing and performing,” he says in his broad Merseyside accent. “I’d describe it as T-Rex, rock ’n’ roll pop, and something to get your groove on to.

“I’m really very excited. Everything feels positive and is there for the taking.” The guitarist, former frontman of The Rascals and sometime Last Shadow Puppet, alongside “best friend” and chief Arctic Monkey Alex Turner, has good reason to smile.

After all, he says, he has just come up with the finest work of his career. Don’t Forget Who You Are, the follow-up to 2011’s Colour of the Trap, is pure anthemic rock ’n’ roll, while its title could almost be the motto on this down-to-earth Wirral lad’s coat of arms.

“There is positive energy running all the way through it all,” he says. “It’s easy to get complacent in the studio, but I wanted to let out the same energy as when I’m playing live.” And fans of Kane, the strutting axeman, will not be disappointed.

“I came close on my first album,” he says, “But this takes that road and runs down it. And I like fronting it. Maybe it’s an ego thing – but not in an arrogant way. I like the pressure; I thrive on it and need that in my life. I work better under pressure.”

And while ostensibly a solo album, it is far from Miles’ own work; instead it saw him working with some of his greatest idols: fellow Merseysider, and former Lightning Seed Ian Broudie, who produced it; and XTC’s Andy Partridge; Kid Harpoon and the ‘Modfather’ himself, Paul Weller – who all shared writing duties.

“I didn’t think I’d ever be working with Paul Weller,” he says, sounding genuinely delighted at having realised a lifetime’s ambition. “The way it happens is really mad but it didn’t feel strange. I’ve realised I’m happy in what I’m doing and nothing seems really weird – just really cool.”

And he has got lots more ideas in him. “It’s been a long old journey already, but I am really still at the start,” he says, turning philosophical. “It’s crazy!” So does this frenzy of activity with his own band signify the end of The Last Shadow Puppets?

Not a bit of it. In fact, he has just returned from a holiday in Alex’s neighbourhood in California, where the two completed a new tune. “Maybe we’ll do something after this cycle,” he says.

“We wrote a song last week. It was a great holiday – we had a rockin’ time! There’s a lot of stuff I can’t tell you!” So what does the man, who has been linked with a string of model girlfriends – including Agyness Deyn and, latterly, Bradley Cooper’s new squeeze Suki Waterhouse – do when not clutching a guitar?

“Trying to stay out of the pub!” he laughs. “Not a lot else. I don’t mind going to the gym or having a bit of a run and try not to get into trouble.” Endearingly, he is still incredibly close to his mother, taking every opportunity to visit her and take her to his shows.

“My mum is one of my best mates,” he says. “She brought me up and we’ve always been close. It was her that got me into music by playing Bowie, T-Rex and the Beatles all the time. “We just get on, and that’s it.” And, of course, there are the usual Mod pastimes of hair care and the purchasing of dapper threads.

“I’ve always loved that since I was a kid,” he says proudly when I ask about his studied Mod image.

“It started when I was 13 and wanted an all-blue tracksuit. It was only a tracksuit, but it was sharp!”

But, more than anything, his life is all about the music. “I’m going to Liverpool for rehearsals tomorrow and to work on the set for the tour. I’m deciding how many new songs to play. I want to play all new songs, but most people only know a couple of them. The set is banging, though. It’s going to blow your socks off! “I can’t wait for the shows,” he adds.

“I really thrive off the crowd going mental. Them losing their minds makes me lose mine! So it’s down to them.”

Miles Kane plays the O2 Academy Oxford on Saturday
Tickets are £15 from ticketweb.co.uk