Don’t Let Me Lose Tonight was supposed to come out six years ago. After a bit of a break from music I’d started writing again, and the imminent arrival of my baby daughter meant I had a deadline too – and in best Douglas Adams style, I enjoyed the whooshing sound as the deadline went past.

I had the idea for the song in 2004 in a Vegas casino, and the idea of someone trying to make a deal with God amused me – especially when, as in the song, that someone was an atheist: “I don’t believe in you, but maybe there’s a deal we can do…” They reckon there are no atheists in foxholes, and I reckon the same applies in casinos.

Writing the words was the easy bit: I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about the vocal melody that makes it really hard to sing. I’ve lost track of how many vocal takes I’ve done on this song, or the times that I’ve been this > < close to abandoning it completely.

I’m glad I didn’t, because I love David’s piano riff. Again there are no deliberate homages here, but I can really hear Gerry Rafferty in it – maybe that’s the multitracked vocals. Rafferty was the soundtrack to my childhood, that and Elton John’s Too Low For Zero, and it looks like the Rafferty stuff stuck. His music still sounds amazing, incidentally. He was an incredible talent.