The band has also rubbed elbows with the newly canonized PJ Harvey, opening up for them in New York and Los Angeles, which Greenwood says was a real honor. "She's really great," he enthuses like a fan-boy.

Thom: I did sessions with PJ Harvey and Björk recently and it was great to share experiences, it makes you feel slightly less of a freak and that maybe your motives are really genuine despite the doubting voices in your head all the time. But I don't feel part of no royal family, I'm here to do my stuff then leave.

Mark: Three quick questions before you go that people have sent in, erm....Browny says: What do you think of the results of the PJ Harvey collaboration, which you did?

Thom: "Oh, very proud of it

Mark: "Yeah, right

Thom: "Yeah, it's a fantastic record

Mark: "Why didn't you put that out as a single, This Mess We're In, that duet, that's terrific, it's fantastic

Thom: "Could do, could do yeah

Mark: "It's probably not up to you is it?

Thom: "Not really, no well, you know there's probably other people in the room you could ask.....

You sang on P.J. Harvey's last album. Did you contribute in anyway to Horses In My Dreams?

Thom: No, but I wish I had. Isn't that song amazing!

It sounds like Polly saying to Patti Smith, "Listen up, sister. You may have done this first but I'm doing it better."

Thom: Yeah, I guess. The Patti Smith thing was going on quite a lot during Polly's sessions. She was very aware of the likeness to the point where she was becoming worried about it. I just told her everything sounded great anyway so she had no need to worry about anything.

When you were first presented with the lyrics of your main duet This Mess We're In, were you ever concerned the media would jump on the words and start publicly speculating that you and Polly were "an item"?

Thom: No, no, no. Anyway if they had, I think it would have been kind of amusing. (He bursts out laughing.) That would have been great fun.

Have you sung live with her?

Thom: No, I was supposed to do a gig with her in London last year, and my girlfriend had just come out of hospital with our little boy Noah. I was halfway to London when I thought I'd better ring home. And she'd had a really bad 'turn'. Her complexion had suddenly turned yellow. It was really quite an emergency so I had to go back and take care of her. Actually, that morning there'd been water pouring through the ceiling in our kitchen. One of those days you never forget.

Fan: No, but I have a serious question, for Thom. What was it like working with Bjork and PJ Harvey.

Thom: Um, it was quite interesting because it was just coming out, when I did both those sessions it was just as we were finishing our mammoth sessions for Kid A and Amnesiac. And um, you know, it was interesting to just walk into someone else's working pattern, or whatever you want to call it. [laughs] And they were both sort of really relaxed...

[laughter]

Thom: Like, all right, there's another way to do this you've got! It was nice just not being responsible for what was going on. I did what I was told. I mean you would, wouldn't you?

RYAT: WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE FEMALE ARTIST OF ALL TIME?

I've got two - it's still Bjork and Polly (PJ Harvey). That's my generation. I still obsess about White Chalk, PoIly's (2007) album. Their records changed my life. Just everything about them. I couldn't pick it apart, but they resonate for me on an emotional level.