The Scotsman Sessions #418: Xan Tyler with Boo Hewerdine and Khalil Johnson

The Britannia Panopticon Music Hall is one of Glasgow’s hidden historical gems. This timewarp of an auditorium, dating from the mid-19th century and tucked unobtrusively just off Trongate, is the world’s oldest surviving music hall and a precious treasure.

It is also Xan Tyler’s favourite venue, where she recently launched her debut solo album, Holding Up Half The Sky. The Fife-based musician enjoyed her rendition of album track Forever Things so much – “I decided in the moment to jump off stage and sing it unmic’d at the piano with Boo [Hewerdine] and Khalil [Johnson]” – that the trio have recreated the moment for Tyler’s second Scotsman Session.

Forever Things is inspired by Molly Drake, mother of cult singer/songwriter Nick Drake, herself a songwriter whose unreleased music and unpublished poetry has come to light over the last couple of decades. “Molly’s home recordings have always fascinated me and I think her songs go a long way toward explaining where Nick got his timeless and unique style from,” says Tyler. “They both found fame posthumously and Nick never heard Molly’s recordings. Although he would have heard lots of her songs at home round the piano I don’t believe Nick ever heard Molly’s song Poor Mum which was her response to his Poor Boy. Her songs have a humour to them but also a slight darkness which I love. Forever Things references her work as well as his but also hints on the sadness of a mother losing her son.”

Xan Tyler at the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall in Glasgow with Boo Hewerdine and Khalil Johnson

Drake is one of a number of women who have inspired the songs on Holding Up Half The Sky, from Sicilian photojournalist Leizia Battaglia to the victims of historical witch hunts to Tyler’s own family. The album was produced and partially co-written by Boo Hewerdine, another native Londoner who has made Scotland his musical base, and draws on the talents of Emma Pollock, Admiral Fallow’s Louis Abbott and fiddler John McCusker. Each song has also been interpreted by a different female visual artist, making Tyler’s solo debut a richly collaborative affair.

It is also far from her first rodeo. Tyler began her singing career as a session vocalist, before forming electro pop duo Technique with Kate Holmes in the late Nineties. She has since released two solo EPs, and worked with the diverse likes of German DJ Timo Maas and cult US musician/producer Kramer as Let It Come Down. She also has a long association with dub reggae producer the Mad Professor, stretching back to the turn of the millennium when they released an album as Mission Control, with guest vocals by the late, great Lee “Scratch” Perry. More recently, the pair worked together once more, releasing the 2021 album Clarion Call.

Next on the agenda is a single release for album track, Ziggy, “a joyous and catchy highlife anthem that serves as a reminder to celebrate yourself, even if you don't fit in.”

Holding Up Half The Sky is out now on Last Night From Glasgow. Xan Tyler plays Summerhall, Edinburgh, 25 October, Frets Concerts, Strathaven Hotel, 1 November, Kings Theatre, Kirkcaldy, 8 November and Harbour Arts Club, Irvine, 16 November