The Lottery Winners chase number one with Anxiety Replacement Therapy ahead of Staggeringly Good Brewery gig in Portsmouth

​On the eve of the release of Anxiety Replacement Therapy (ART), their latest album, the band are pushing hard for their first ever number one.

When The Guide catches up with them they’re on the road, with a full-on schedule.

‘It's been absolutely nonstop,’ says frontman Thom Rylance. ‘We're, like, 12 days into our tour without a day off, and our next day without a gig is the 15th of May. Any artist will usually do three days on, one off!’

Even though the tour has seen them stepping up the size of the venues they play, many dates have been selling out.

‘It's been overwhelmingly popular. I think, and you can quote me on this, we're kind of a big deal,’ he giggles. Speaking with Thom is like this – hugely likeable he manages to pull off the trick of being both self-deprecating but also confident in his and his band’s talents without sounding arrogant.

With the tour having started before the new album is out, most people have only heard the advance singles, but as Thom says: ‘They've been going down really well. It's been kind of bizarre to see, these songs which have only been out in the world for a couple of days even, but the way they've connected to the audience… I wrote a song called Letter To Myself, which is me addressing my 12-year-old self and some of the ways I was feeling then and kind of closing the chapter on that so I don't carry those feelings around any more.

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‘It seems to have really resonated with people to the point now where there's parts of our gigs where most people are crying! I don't know if that's good or bad, but the album is called Anxiety Replacement Therapy, so I suppose there's a reason for that!’

Letter to Myself is the current single; featuring folk-punk star and band friend Frank Turner, it's clearly a highly personal song for Thom.

‘I had a really difficult time growing up and I'm sure a lot of people did, so it's not like I want loads of attention for that or anything. But having really bad ADHD in a time and being at school where they didn't understand or nurture people that might have learnt in different ways or had other requirements.

‘Schools didn't really make the correct adjustments for people like me or anyone who might be neurodivergent. It kind of left me feeling a bit broken and discarded. I was actually expelled from two schools so I grew up thinking I was a bad person and that I didn't fit in with everyone.

‘I think that had quite a profound effect on the person I became, so I'm trying to address those feelings now, and saying, look it did all work out and, actually, if you could see the person you become you'd be quite proud of him!’

Thom is mostly able to keep his ADHD in check these days, but admits it can cause problems with his chosen career.

‘There's times where it's kind of overwhelming, especially at the moment in such an intense album campaign where we're going for this massive goal of a number one, against all the odds as well. We've not picked an easy goal, but that's part of it – I'm really determined as a person to achieve things. It's kind of bigheaded of me really. It can be quite intense, but my outlet is music and my outlet is writing and being onstage, and that is how I can cope and deal with the way my brain works.

‘I'm very lucky, and I feel very grateful that I've found my way of dealing with things. I really hope that people, specially young kids, if they're going through a similar thing I went through, I hope I can at least be some kind of example that shows you can channel the thing that makes you different into something that makes you great. Not that I think I'm great,’ he pauses, ‘well, I do!’