The new studios (Chem19 Mk2) are looking great and are great to work in. Of course I would say that - it is our studio after all, but really, it is great to be in. There's loads of natural light coming in everywhere so we can stare out at the Scottish rain and murky skies for as long as we care to. There's also the Van at the end of the road with every West of Scotland treat you can care to imagine for lunch. Typical Scottish fatty fare from a roll in sausage with brown sauce to haggis. They do 'specials' every day - but beware, if you're not there before 1pm you're going to miss them. Not sure Victor was impressed, but then if you're used to eating in NYC every day your average Scottish fast food is going to pale in comparison.

The first week in the studio was pre-production, and a little weird. To the uninitiated this process consists of a band and producer in the same room playing through the songs that are to be recorded, taking them apart, making them better, and then putting them back together. In all the years of The Delgados this never happened. When we worked with Tony Doogan and Dave Fridmann we would just arrive at the studio with our songs all sorted out and ready to go (as far as we were concerned) and we just got on with it. So the first day of pre-production did really fuck with my head to some extent as I felt really self-conscious. However, it really is amazing how much you can change a song for the better by having someone else with experience come in and tell you simple things like 'There's not enough instrumental space in this song - put some more in and it will be so much more enjoyable to listen to'. And so I did, and it works.

One of the most frustrating things about recording has to be the necessity to get things right technically. Yes, a recording is primarily about feel, but the occasional buzz of an acoustic guitar chord that you might not even hear in your house whilst writing can become a major problem when you come to record. There's also the whole psychological thing about knowing that this one recording of the song is going to be the definitive version, and if it isn't perfect you won't have done the song justice. So the simplest song becomes ridiculously hard to play and it takes forever to get right.

I've recently confirmed the Homefires Festival in London on the first weekend in June. I'll be playing an acoustic set with Jamie Savage on piano and me on guitar, similar to the one we did at the Bush Hall last November. We'll be on just before Vashti Bunyan who is headlining the Sunday night (4th June) and I can't wait to see her. I hope to get a full band together soon and start playing the album version of these songs. As Campbell will be busy with Aereogramme later this year and Paul may be busy at the studio I still don't know who the band will consist of. Perhaps just Jamie and I and a Casio keyboard?