IN these financially constrained times, the glory days of rock – when bands travelled the world in their own private jets and enjoyed five-figure advances from record companies – are long gone.

“The whole of London is being propped up by the arts,” says Jessica Davies, one half of Chichester-born but now London-based Smoke Fairies.

“We both do temp jobs in London at different offices with lots of artistic types. They’re always dancers or actors.”

It was the realisation they might not be able to make a living as Smoke Fairies which led to the pair splitting up after touring their second album, 2013’s Blood Speaks.

“It was only a few days,” admits Davies. “The songs kept coming and we couldn’t stop it.

"Smoke Fairies is so interlaced with our lives – questioning stopping music was such a massive deal. We just realised it wasn’t an option.”

Davies and bandmate Katherine Blamire have been making music together since they were 12, having met at school.

It was partly that devotion to the muse which led Davies to ask whether it was worth continuing.

“Everyone in their careers go through a point where they wonder whether they should be doing it,” says Davies.

“It’s hard for musicians to make any money these days. Musicians at every level are struggling to make it work.

“If we tour we pay out so much for tour vans and the band – people don’t realise that a band on our level can’t really make an existence on music. I guess it’s just a fact of the business.”

It was their love of music and their desire to keep writing songs which informed their self-titled third album, the first on independent label Full Time Hobby.

“The album is about what it means to have music dominate your life, and what it has meant for us,” says Davies. “A lot of the songs deal with the questioning we were going through, so it seemed obvious to call it Smoke Fairies as it is so much about us.”

The album is quite a departure from Blood Speaks in terms of its style and sound.

“We were a little bored with the two harmonies and two guitars thing,” says Davies. “The songs seemed more personal, so when we went to record the album we felt we shouldn’t be harmonising for the sake of it.”

The varied instrumentation reflected a different approach to songwriting.

“When I went to write a song I was picking up the guitar and using the same chords,” says Davies. “Anything that sounded remotely like what we had done in the past we just scrapped.

“We tried to do something new and reflect the stuff we listen to. We’re more into contemporary music now, not so much folk music.”

Davies found herself using the keyboard for her demos, and built up tracks using different instrumentation.

“We had a really fun time recording and experimenting, working out what the songs really needed rather than just adding two guitars ‘because that’s what we did’,” says Davies.

The pair teamed up with touring bassist Kris Harris in a home studio, inviting friends to play on the sessions.

She admits it was only at the start of 2014 they realised they would have to work out how to play them live.

“It seemed a daunting task,” she says. “No one knew what the hell was going on!

“We put a lot of time into working out how to do it. It’s really fun on stage now, I play different instruments like synths and tambourines. We’ve reworked some of the old stuff to sit with the new album.

“Hopefully the shows feel more relaxed, because it’s a test every night.”

Smoke Fairies are performing at Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar, Middle Street, Brighton, on Wednesday, June 4.