Just because former MTH frontman Ian Hunter has lived in New York and Connecticut for God-knows-how-long doesn't mean he's no longer an Englishman.
And as such the corkscrew-haired singer-who inhabited Northampton for 11 years- has been cocking one ear and keeping one eye on the election. Speaking from a hotel room before his show at the Roadmender on Monday, he said politics were the focus of much of the new album Rant:
'I've never been in love with the way Britain's been run. That is one of the reasons I left. I came to write these songs because we are at a crossroads. 'We could lose our sovereignty. No-one talks about Brussels itself - it's the Las Vegas of politics. I don't think English people know what they are in for, because to me it's a money pot. The English think when they get together with Europe they'll be able to buy everything cheaper and it's bull - it's not going to happen. But what can I do? I'm just a rock n' roller.'
Oo-er. Sweat had begun to cross my brow as I worried that we might have a William Hague voter on our hands, but Ian assured me he didn't vote.
But while he harks back to an England of warm beer and corruption-free cricket, he almost denies others the same freedom. Such as fans who hark back to an era of warm beer, cricket and Mott The Hoople:
'Obviously I am helped by the past, but peoples expectations are hard to change and that is what we are trying to do. Eventually I would like to wipe that out, but that is not to say I'm not grateful. But it is a pain. You're not supposed to sit back and rot and I'm not that type of person.'
Quite. And the roll call of stars-including Slash n' Axl, Roger Daltrey, The Cult's Ian Astbury and er, (whisper it) Bryan Adams-who have lined up to work with Ian bears testimony to that. The aptly titled Rant is out now.