THE Prodigy’s main man Liam Howlett doesn’t do many interviews. In fact I’ve had to wait 15 years for this one.

Good things come to those who wait as they say. Today will see the release of the band’s sixth album, The Day Is My Enemy and according to midweek charts it should be UK number one.

Born out of the sweaty, amphetamine-soaked rave culture of 1990, The Prodigy quickly moved from hyperactive club tracks like Charly and Out of Space to hard-hitting electronica that jarred against the Britpop revival of the 90’s. With all conquering hits such as Firestarter and Breathe, 1997's The Fat Of The Land album made them the biggest act in the world. With frontman Keith’s memorable spiked hairstyle and Maxim’s snarling vocal delivery, they had a killer formula of dance music with a rock attitude.

Subsequent albums Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned (2004) and Invaders Must Die (2009) also kept them at the top spot, but releasing only six albums in 25 years is quite staggering. Time is something that weighs heavy on the mind of Liam Howlett, the semi-reclusive musical genius behind the band.

“Our lives move in a different time capsule to everyone else. While we can’t stop time, the band has kept us young because we love it so much,” says Liam, 43.

“I’ve got friends of mine with shall we say ‘normal jobs’ and they just seem to be aging quicker than I am. The nature of what we do keeps us young. Maxim and Keith are very fit and I’m err, getting there. You need to get a balance I suppose like anything. As long as you don’t party too hard and keep on the ball,” adds Liam.

Talking about the long wait for another album from the Essex trio, Liam is philosophical, funny and unwaveringly passionate in his love of making music. We even do the phone interview from his beloved home studio, where he’s been locked away for the last few years.

“We set out to write a band album and we finished with a band album. The in-between bits were very turbulent, especially with me and Keith. Maxim was there as more a referee in a boxing fight between me and Keith,” says Liam, 43.

“He’s like a brother and I love him. But we both agree that the friendship gets in the way in the studio. Everyone’s life gets put on hold and there was a bit of a breakdown in communication halfway through. Keith needs something to hold in his hands and then he knows it’s real. But it’s no good to him if I say that the tracks are in my head and I’ve learnt this again through the album.”

The solution finally came when Liam had an unlikely meeting with a fox and changed how he worked in the studio.

“The most enjoyable time I’ve ever spent in the studio was near the end of the album when I just worked at night. When I did that everything changed. My head went into this other level of creativity and it was great.

“There was this fox that was living under my car. Two or three times a week he’d run out from under the car when I’d come near it. I was just driving home and thinking about the fox and how he was a bit like me in a way. He does things on his own terms, so leave me alone and let me get on with it. I thought he represented the band well. I went with it and it worked out, when I finished the title track the album was finished.”

The Day Is My Enemy is loud and as energetic as you’d expect from The Prodigy, but there’s a noticeably confrontational edge to it.

“This new album’s just the next onslaught, really. It’s more violent sounding, and the reason for that is, it’s a reaction to what’s going on out there. Musically, culturally and everything.”

Liam sums up their feelings about what he says are “lazy” DJs in the new track Ibiza.

“It’s a sarcastic take, and it’s not an attack on the country or the island, but unfortunately, Ibiza is where most of the lazy DJing takes place. They know who they are. They turn up and do minimal work, just playing pre-mixed sets for all that money.

“We’ve got to draw a line between us and that, we want to make sure that people understand that we’re separate to that. That in itself made the record come out a bit more violent. If dance music self-implodes, then it’s only got itself to blame. Maybe it’s time rock music poked its head up again.”

: The Prodigy play the BIC on May 14 and headline the Isle Of Wight Festival this year.