A quarter of a century since his self-inflicted coronation, and selfreleased debut solo album, Kenny Anderson – DIY pop voyager, ancestral seaside home restorer, squeezebox lothario, Fife for lifer, diamond miner, hijacker of hearts, and the man also known as King Creosote – has released over 100 records (at a relatively conservative guess), collaborated with the likes of Jon Hopkins, KT Tunstall, Beta Band’s Lone Pigeon, and had his songs covered and performed by artists including Patti Smith and Simple Minds. He’s now got a new album, despite or perhaps because of it all. It’s called ‘I DES’. ‘I DES’ is a reference to King Creosote’s key collaborator this time around – multi-instrumentalist and co-producer Derek O’Neill aka Des Lawson of Blantyre (2014’s ‘From Scotland With Love’, 2016’s ‘Astronaut Meets Appleman’). On ‘I DES’ there are the previously released songs ‘Susie Mullen’ and ‘Walter de la Nightmare’, as well as the 36-minute ‘Drone In B#’. The record’s kaleidoscopic musical terrain plots vibraphones, accordions, e-bows, samplers, ungulates, pipes, scratched records and wine glass-drones across its landscape. But there’s common ground in the wonder of the synthesiser – not to mention Anderson’s singular voice, and his roguish, roving, ever-evolving, gorgeous songs in the key of Fife. It’s tempting to assign King Creosote’s rekindled love for ambient and modular kicks to sublime co-conspirator Jon Hopkins (2007’s ‘Bombshell’; 2011’s Mercury Prize-shortlisted ‘Diamond Mine’), but – more directly – it’s down to seeing Nils Frahm live in Edinburgh; to an enduring fascination with loops (“because we’re always going back”); and to a book by David Stubbs. “I started listening to drones and stuff again because I read Future Days: Krautrock and the Building of Modern Germany,” he offers.

LP in printed inner sleeve with digital download card. Available to independent retailers on gold vinyl.

The 36-minute final track, ‘Drone In B#’, appears on the second disc of the CD, and as a digital download with the vinyl formats.