The appeal, even they admit, was the video’s dreamy aesthetic – shot in a nostalgic, sepia-tinged 16mm film, the band carefully dressed in vintage shirts, slacks and boots, strumming guitars in a pastoral, autumnal glow. It was so pitch-perfect in its execution, many suspected its success could not be a fluke. “We’ve been accused of a lot of things, that it’s all like planned, and there’s a major label behind it all,” adds bassist Will Tavener, aka “Tav”. “But honestly we’ve been an indie band since the beginning really.”

Did they shop especially for the video? “A bit of both,” he admits. “Some clothes we bought for it, but all tried to go with the same sort of palette.” Their shop of choice? Brighton’s Beyond Retro.

“It’s a nod to the 60s, but it’s not overtly 60s,” adds Murray. “Something I noticed is that people who want to dress 60s quite often massively overdo it, overcompensate. If you actually look back at what people were wearing day to day in the 60s, they weren’t all in crazy bright colours, wild things. A lot of the standard fashion wouldn’t look so out of place now. It was very understated – we weren’t trying to do Jimi Hendrix in a feather boa.”

It’s perhaps too easy to point to their origins: four students who met at performing arts university Bimm in Brighton, a southern UK town renowned for its retro-leanings, as a hub for mod culture, and as the setting of The Who’s monolithic rock opera/movie Quadrophenia.

However, the fluke success could not be repeated at home or abroad, and none of the band’s subsequent releases enjoyed the same success. While follow-up singles “What Would I Do?” and “Angel Eyes” earned just under three and two million hits respectively, guitarist and co-songwriter Harry Saunders left in 2019. Continuing as a trio – anchored by drummer Flynn Whelan – 2021’s enjoyable debut album When You Walk Away failed to build on the momentum, and last month’s swansong single “I Don’t Know Why (But I Love You)” has clocked a comparatively modest 54,000 views since its August 30 release.

All reasons, perhaps, the band are calling it a day at the end of their current Asia tour – which makes its third-but-last stop in Hong Kong, at a Clockenflap-hosted show on October 10 at Grappa’s Cellar (previously booked for Kitec Music Zone), before wrapping in Bali three nights later.

Officially the reason for the “indefinite hiatus” is love. “It’s mainly on me, because I’m the person out of everyone that’s decided to pursue other things,” says Murray, “I’m moving to Australia with my girlfriend who’s from there – that’s been something I’ve been wanting to do for a while.”

While the frontman says he’s still planning to pursue music, eventually – after “enjoying not needing to think about it” – Tav is turning his back all together and moving to Vienna with his own girlfriend to pursue freelance “cultural football writing”.

“I think we’re all ready to explore different avenues for a little bit, see what life has to offer,” adds the bassist. “Fur’s probably the proudest thing we’ve done, and definitely something we want to come back to in future – but it will also be good to have a bit of freedom in life. There’s a lot out there to explore. But we’ll be back, I’m sure.”

So, if they could go back to the beginning and offer one piece of advice? “Wear earplugs.” says Tav. “I’ve got terrible tinnitus.”

“I’m not going to say anything too real, I’m not going to throw anyone under the bus,” adds Murray, “but in those early days it’s quite easy to say yes to things and go with opportunities because they feel good at the time. Me back then wouldn’t have listened to me saying this, but the real exciting things you get offered might not be the best route. Maybe take a back seat, let more things come to the table – and make more sound decisions.”