They’ve supported Basildon’s finest not once but twice, rocked the Houses of Parliament and even provided a song for a top investment bank.

That’s Colchester’s FOX, who will be making a long overdue triumphant hometown return at the end of this month.

Last year the three-piece electro pop outfit, performed in front of hundreds of thousands of fans as support to Depeche Mode, on four of their dates; Bratislava, Budapest, Prague and Liepzig in Germany.

It followed an incredible support slot back in 2013 when the group performed at 50,000 seater venues in places such as Nice, Athens, Sofia and Bucharest.

Mitzi Fox, lead singer with FOX, says: “There’s no way we thought we would get asked back to perform with them so we definitely knew how lucky we were. It’s incredibly rare for a band like us to get that opportunity but it’s all thanks to the band for their support.”

And thanks to Mitzi’s friendship with Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan.

“It was when we were doing our album,” she explains, “and Depeche Mode being just such a huge influence that I thought why not email Dave Gahan and send him some demos.

“There’s no way I expected him to reply, but he did.

“That’s when we struck up a bit of a friendship. He said he liked us, the way we looked and the way we sounded and started offering us advice.”

As Angry Vs the Bear, the band have been one of Colchester’s top musical successes in recent years.

After winning the inaugural House of Commons battle of the bands competition in 2011, Radio 1’s Huw Stephens chose their debut single, Show Emotion, as his pick of the week. That record then went on to be used as part of a worldwide advertising campaign by financial firm Investec.

They’ve also played the prestigious South by South West music conference in Austin, Texas, a number of times.

Since launching themselves as FOX, the trio have released two albums, Chimera and Hypoxia, the latter of which had so many songs it had to be released as Parts 1 and 2.

Now they’re in the midst of recording their third, which Mitzi says should be out towards the end of the year.

She adds: “We are working hard on album number three and when that comes out, we’re hoping it will be supported by a U.K. and European tour.

“For now we’re just looking forward to being back at the Colchester Arts Centre. It’s the venue we’ve played most so it always feels like home when we’re there, and we’ve got some great bands playing with us too.”

That’s Dead Cannons and Amethysts, all of whom will be at the Church Street arts centre on January 26.

Doors open at 7.30pm and tickets are available, priced £7 and £6 for concessions, from the website at colchesterartscentre.com of by calling the box office on 01206 500900.