Eins, Zwei, Drei was written on one of those synths. Affectionately known as Kosmo, it’s a towering black box, external that resembles a cross between a telephone exchange and the flight deck of an airliner.
The song was written after the musician emailed the BBC’s Eurovision team “out of the blue” last September.
Initially expecting to write for another artist, he was surprised to be asked to consider performing at the contest in his own right.
The idea for Eins, Zwei, Drei came as he was setting up his equipment.
“I was actually moving a sofa to make room for my synth and, as we prepared to lift it I said, ‘Eins, Zwei, Drei’.
“Everyone was like, ‘That’s the name of the song!’
“And lo and behold, 12 hours later we had the rough version of this thing.”
By Christmas, Battle was on a shortlist of five artists who’d been asked to play a showcase for the BBC’s Eurovision team, including head of delegation Andrew Cartmell and Sam Ryder’s manager David May.
In January, he was chosen as the UK’s representative. He was publicly announced last month, and the song was unveiled on Friday.
“It’s pretty mad, but yeah, I’m excited,” he says of taking part in the contest. “[I’m] working hard to do the best that I can do.”
Battle will take his song to Vienna in May, after a bruising Eurovision build-up that saw five countries pull out of the contest due to Israel’s participation.
The musician says he hopes his song, with its message of embracing other European countries, will sound a note of positivity.
“The idea of Eurovision is a feeling of togetherness,” he says. “And that’s what I wanted to portray.”