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With their exotic looks, ambiguous sexuality and fondness for excess, Placebo were like a wet dream come true in certain quarters of the music press. In common with most young bands, they courted publicity, but it led to an uneasy relationship with the media as frontman Brian Molko found himself with a reputation as a painted primadonna and reckless hedonist, quick to show journalists the sharp side of his tongue.

These days, Molko has grown up enough not to let the more invidious aspects of the media phase him, but confesses to being deeply affected by it in the past. "Going from obscurity to that level of attention at such a young age definitely had an effect on my brain, and I did get very into self-mythologising," he admits. It all led to something of an identity crisis. "I was quite schizo and prone to acting and talking before thinking. My behaviour definitely got extremely erratic as the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle began to take its toll."

Of American and Scottish parentage, Molko was raised in Europe and moved to London to study drama as a teen. Placebo emerged with a splash in 1995, following a chance meeting between Molko and Swedish bassist Stefan Olsdal, an acquaintance from his Luxembourg schooldays.

"I think I lived out a kind of second adolescence," Molko recalls of the band’s early fame. "Come to think of it, that’s probably due to the fact that most of my actual adolescence was very boring. Luxembourg wasn’t the most exciting place to grow up. This time round, I feel all of those things I was desperately trying to present to the world have been well-established, and I can let the music do the talking, because there’s definitely an emotional depth on this album."

The album in question is Sleeping With Ghosts, the band’s fourth. While the Placebo sound is unmistakable, there are certainly novel elements, with an electronic drive undercutting the guitars.

Explaining the developments between this album and the last, Brian says, "This album is more of a hi-fi experience. Black Market Music was self-produced and quite rough around the edges. This time, we got the producer Jim Abiss, who’s worked with DJ Shadow and The Sneaker Pimps. We wanted somebody to challenge us and make us do things backwards and sideways and erase any reliance on tried and tested methods. There were occasional power struggles in the studio ’cause as a band we’re very stubborn with very strong ideas and Jim is as well, but a lot of good art is born out of a certain amount of tension."

There was tension of a sexual nature when Brian made sweet love to the sultry actress Asia Argento, alas only on record, for an even saucier take on the orgasmic classic ‘Je T’Aime’ for the ‘pornographic’ concept album by Trash Palace.

"Unfortunately we did one of those international recording sessions where you don’t actually get together in the same studio, but we clicked over the phone and I hope to meet her when we tour L.A."

He also lent his vocals to dance maestros Alpinestars for their single ‘Carbon Kid’ after they bonded over Brian’s dirty laundry.

"They were living beneath me in apartments in London, so I used to go down and use their washing machine and we got on well. One day they left a CD with a note at my door so I went down and recorded the song the next day. It was easy, no pressure, I was just a hired gun."

Following his appearance (which must have been quite a stretch) as a glam-rock star in the film Velvet Goldmine, the former drama student remains cautiously optimistic about his acting potential.

"It’s about ten years since I’ve acted properly – I wouldn’t call my part in Velvet Goldmine acting – so I think I’d be extremely rusty. That scares me a little, but if anything of quality came my way, I’d be keen. Tragically, I only seem to get offered roles in student films about vampires."