They say your school days are ones you will never forget and for former Roding Valley High School pupil Liam Cromby those heady years were when he first started playing in bands and cementing his passion for music.

But the We Are the Ocean frontman has also never forgotten a tragedy that still affects him today and was the seed of inspiration of the Loughton band’s new album Ark.

“I Hope You’re Well is my favourite song from the album at the moment and may always be as it was the first one written and everything came from that,“ says the 27-year-old.

“It’s a bit dark as it’s inspired by a friend who passed away when we were in school. It was quite sad at the time and since then, it was over ten years ago, I have wanted to write a song because you don’t forget that kind of person.

“Some people listen to it and think it is a break up song which it isn’t, but people can take what they want from it.“

The album was recorded it over two months last summer in Devon and launched on Monday with gigs in HMV in Harlow and the Blackheart pub in Camden, and will be followed by a short tour which comes to the Electric Ballroom in London on May 22. Fans further afield will get to hear the new material at festivals Slamdunk in Hertfordshire, 2000 Trees in Cheltenham, Y Not Festival in Derbyshire and Reading and Leeds in Berkshire.

“We have been writing it for about two years so it’s been a long time for people waiting for it to come out,“ says Liam who formed the band with friends in Loughton eight years ago.

“We wanted to take some time off. We had been touring solidly for seven years and needed space to look back at things from outside the box.“

There have been a lot of changes for the group over the last three years with the tumultuous departure of lead singer and manager Dan Brown in 2012 leaving them looking for a new manager – they hired Tom O’Rourke last year – and Liam with the pressure of being main vocalist. They also signed a new deal with BMG Chrysalis just before Christmas, meaning this is their last album with record label Hassle, which saw the album release pushed back.

But Liam says the overhaul has meant the tension has left the group and they are really enjoying being a four-piece.

“There was never any talk of replacing Dan and it was a case of pick yourself up and carry on.

“I was a little nervous about taking over but we were in the studio when it happened and then we were off on the Vans Warped Tour for five weeks and there wasn’t time to think.

“We just had to learn to play as a four-piece and that was something I will always remember. We were travelling all across America and almost learning our trade again. That spurred us on.“

The lads are all still local with Tom Whittaker (drums) and Jack Spence (bass) still living in Loughton and Liam often walking the eight miles over from Goodmayes in Redbridge and Alfie Scully (guitar) travelling from Nazeing in Epping for band practise.

And Liam says it is leaving home that he finds the hardest part of the profession as he is very close to his family, with his parents being the catalyst behind his music career.

“My family is quite musical, my dad played bass in a band called The Albert Dock and my mum was a classically trained singer and was about to go to the Royal College of Music when she met my dad.

“They are both people I look up to for my inspiration, which I know sounds cheesy as hell. But they used to have people over for drinks and to jam in the house, and I grew up with that and picking up instruments whenever I saw one.

“I remember creeping out of my bedroom to hear what was going on. And driving off on holiday with Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire and Patsy Cline’s Crazy playing.“

Liam’s parents have continued to be a big influence on him and album track Letter to Michael was written for his dad.

“It’s acoustic number I wrote about a year before the studio time, but it was only when my dad came down and visited that I realised what the lyrics needed to be about.

“There was also a funny thing when we were recording and my dad sat in on a song Good for You, which like all the songs was recorded live in one take. He’s standing there, this legend to all of us, and he’s rocking it with the tambourine keeping the tempo for all of us. So there’s a lot of sentimental parts in the album and also just a lot of fun, creational moments.“

He says the four-piece approached this album much more freely and it is not just the individual songs he feels emotional about.

“There were a lot of times we were all in the room together and after hours of jamming something golden would come out.

“We wanted to express the feel of playing together in a live sense, where you are not just recording to a click and everything is over edited.

“Something really quite beautiful and natural and human comes out of that, not just with the music, but the experience stays with you.“

Ark is out now.

Gig at Electric Ballroom, Camden High Street, NW1 8QP, Friday, May 22. Details: wearetheocean.co.uk