THE Wages of Fear is a 1953 film about a group of desperate men trapped in a dead-end town in South America, who are hired by a crooked oil company to transport deadly chemicals without the equipment that would make it safe.

On the face of it, it's not the first movie you might think of when looking for musical inspiration.

"Half of the band actually work in an arts cinema in Cambridge and we're all pretty into film," explained lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Stephen Davidson. "For me the title is a lot more personal though. I was taken to see the film in an old cinema in New York a few years ago during a pretty crucial few days in my life. Then when we were thinking of album titles I just wrote down the words and thought they were pretty great.

"We all sat and talked about different titles and I think that one just worked in so many ways, you can hang so many different, relevant and important elements off it that it very quickly became the only choice."

For Davidson, the title also mirrored how he felt after the release of the band's last album, Contact! Contact!

"With the first record I think we felt like we'd come quite close to moving up a step with our band. We did all the things people tell you you're supposed to do, we got some stunningly positive press from the right places and yet, for whatever reason, the thing as a whole failed to connect somehow," he said.

"Over the years we've seen quite a few bands we know take those steps from being part-time pursuits self-funded by minimum wage jobs to suddenly having substantial backing behind them and a team put in place where you're able to go on tour in new countries, release your record all over the world and almost graduate into a higher league.

"I guess we were maybe just guilty of believing our own hype to a small extent back in 2007. Everything around us was going exactly how it goes when the result is one thing, but it turned out the result was we finished touring the album, looked around and realised we all just had to go back to our day jobs.

"That was a disappointment. Like going for a promotion at work, having a series of great interviews, everything seems to be falling into place and then suddenly the position is filled by some guy you've never heard of."

Davidson is much more confident about the band's latest work though.

"With The Wages Of Fear we've put so much time, thought, energy and patience into it I think it feels to us like a much more complete album," he said. "We're positive about it because we like it. We hope other people maybe feel the same. This time around I guess we're just looking forward to seeing what happens rather than hoping for anything in particular."

There's a definite academic strand to the songs on the new album and this is not surprising when you consider where Davidson was at the time of its conception.

"Whilst I was writing the songs for this record I was finishing my degree at University," said Davidson. "I tend, when writing, to use the things to hand as reference points and a few different bits filtered into what I was writing. But I definitely don't think of myself as well-read.

"Spending three years at University was a pretty humbling experience for me. It mostly taught me the vast extent of what I don't know rather than giving me any illusions about knowing much about anything."

Despite the plaudits from music critics and the general public alike, Davidson, still finds accepting praise hard.

"I'm shocked and awed by anyone that champions Tellison's cause. It blows all of our minds that people choose to invest time and money in the things we make and do," he said.

By way of a reward for that investment, fans are being promised a night to remember when the band hits Middlesbrough.

"Middlesbrough is a special town for us," said Davidson. "Every show we've ever played there as been memorable for good - and occasionally terrible - reasons and I'd always tip any Tellison Middlesbrough show as a chance to see something you'll never forget."

Tellison appear at The Crown on June 26. Doors open at 7.30pm. The Wages of Fear is out now on Naim Edge records.