Scots star Edwyn Collins reveals new album plans

pop star Edwyn Collins will be recording a brand new album at a home recording studio he is creating in the Highlands.

Edwyn Collins at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

The former Orange Juice singer told hundreds of his fans that equipment had been relocated from London to Helmsdale, in Sutherland, where he moved last year with his wife Grace Maxwell.

The new album would be the fourth release since he suffering two massive strokes which almost cost him his life.

She said: “Edwyn has this beautiful vintage recording equipment. He is one of these hoarders. When the world was going digital, Edwyn was going contrary.”

Edinburgh-born Collins, given a standing ovation as he left the stage, treated the audience to performances of two songs – Searching for the Truth, which was recorded after his illness, and his biggest solo hit A Girl Like You.

Collins, who was initially left paralysed down one side and unable to speak, underwent an extensive rehabilitation programme and within three years was back performing again.

Collins, who told his fans he was “glad to be alive,” had them roaring with laughter as he and Ms Maxwell shared anecdotes with author Ian Rankin. The singer chided his wife for revealing he had made a failed attempt to get into Glasgow School of Art.

Collins had recorded his sixth solo album, Home Again, before he fell suddenly ill in February 2005. It was eventually released in September 2007 shortly before he appeared on stage again in London at a BBC Electric Proms concert.

Ms Maxwell said the advent of social media had helped him express himself by talking directly to fans around the world, adding: “It’s been a great thing for him. He is waiting to talk to people at any time of the day or night. He loves that people can contact him and he has this interaction with the world.”

Asked about the value of life, she said: “We’ve had a lot of contact with people who have suffered brain injuries. We all have the horror and the dread of losing our mental capacity in any way. The idea of what is a valuable life, what is an interesting person, where is the character? And when you have an experience like this, it puts these questions right into the midst of your life, and it’s not what people think it is.”