SUSAN BEAR has released the first track from her upcoming second solo album.

M6 is the first taste of the sound to come from the Alter record, which is due out in June.

Of the story behind M6, the artist says: “Tangled memories of driving up and down from London in my wee Volkswagen Polo at a time when my first proper band did a lot of ‘one off’ gigs in London.

We’d often play then drive straight back up after, which now I think is totally mad. I enjoy long-distance driving, it’s kind of mindful (although terrible for the environment).

“I went on a weird holiday to Tuscany that summer with some friends. I was in my early twenties, not making very good decisions. I became nostalgic for that time recently, even though I wasn’t very happy, and my life wasn’t going very well… I think it is nostalgia for recklessness or something, or decisions feeling like they had fewer consequences.

"When you’re younger it feels like there is more opportunity for ‘trial and error’ with life a little bit. Of course, decisions had consequences back then, I was just too irresponsible to feel them.

“The song’s about that, and observing memories from a safe place (the present).”

Bear has worked with a long line of artists in recent years, including Tuff Love, Pictish Trail and Martha Ffion, as well as The Pastels, Tracyanne & Danny, Malcolm Middleton, Poster Paints, Karine Polwart, Amandah Wilkinson (Bossy Love) and on a variety of theatre projects.

Alter will be released on June 10, 2022 on limited-edition vinyl and digital platforms through Lost Map Records.

LISTEN: Susan Bear - M6 on Spotify