After 10 years chasing success, UK-based band Snow Patrol [ tickets ] finally found notoriety in the ballad "Chasing Cars." Singer/guitarist Gary Lightbody calls it a lesson in humility.

"We started in '94 and it was 2004 before we had a hit," Lightbody said during an interview with LiveDaily. "You don't expect anything, really. If nothing else, you learn humility, that's for sure. I don't think it's something anybody expected.

"Certainly, we were told by the record label in their opinion this was going to be a big hit. But we never count any chickens before they hatch."

The success of "Chasing Cars" is part of the reason why Snow Patrol pushed itself so hard on its forthcoming album, "A Hundred Million Suns," due in stores Oct. 28.

"We didn't want to, first of all, repeat ourselves, and second of all it gave us the space and the time and the air to breathe to make this record and to travel the world," Lightbody said. "It's given us so many opportunities. You can't go back there. There's no point in trying to catch that butterfly again."

Lightbody explained that the title of the album reflects his feelings on love.

"Well, the chance of seeing one sun would be lovely," he said jokingly as he called from dreary London. "No, it's a line in the song 'The Planets Bend Between Us.' It just kind of sums up the record brilliantly. The record is kind of a love record. It's about love, being in love, finally, rather than breaking up, which some other records are about. It's set in the context of the world, of the universe. All our problems seem massive when they're up close. We can't get away from our problems because we're here. We're inside of ourselves. If you set it in the context of the universe, there's a 100 million suns, there's more than 100 million suns. I just liked 100 million. It's a good number."

Lightbody--who is joined in the band by bassist Paul Wilson, drummer Jonny Quinn, lead guitarist Nathan Connolly and keyboardist Tom Simpson--describes the first single, "Take Back the City," as a "rallying cry." It's a way of re-introducing the Grammy-nominated band to its fans.

"It's vital. It's energetic. It's sounds like we're ready. It sounds confident. It's a great song," Lightbody said. "It's pretty much three choruses. It sets the bar pretty high for the record. I like that. I want people to think we have a great record because we think we have."

Snow Patrol's fifth studio album was recorded throughout the summer of 2008 in Hansa Studios in Berlin, where David Bowie recorded "Low," "Heroes" and "Lodger," and at Grouse Lodge deep in the Irish countryside. Written by Snow Patrol, the album was produced once again by Garret "Jacknife" Lee (R.E.M., U2).

"He pushes us harder than anybody because he knows us so well now," Lightbody said about Lee. "He knows how to push our buttons in the good ways and in the bad ways. It's what a producer needs to be able to do. We find it hard to have somebody else in his chair because I don't think any of us could have a relationship like we have with Garret with anyone else. He's become part of our gang, one of our brothers.

"It's not a band-producer relationship. It's much more than that. He's involved right from the beginning. Sometimes I'll go down to his house [and run ideas by him]. Three to four songs that ended up on the album were written in his studio at his garage. He's a very, very important person to us. He pushed us so bloody hard this time. We were exhausted by the end of the record, but it was well worth it."