IT IS PERHAPS the unintentional creations that are treasured the most.

That which came into being organically, without pressure to deliver. The happy accidents – the welcome surprises.

Or, in the case of Roddy Woomble's new album: "An unexpected delight."

The veteran songwriter had been living out the pandemic amid familiar surroundings in the Hebrides. A man comfortable in isolation, the change to everyday life brought on by the pandemic was, for him, subtle.

However, events around the world had an effect, all the same.

Woomble tells The Weekender: "If lockdown offered us anything, it was a pause – a collective pause. Everything stopped at once and we all had to adapt and reflect on that."

Reflection proved key as the singer began to spend his time noodling around the guitar, sharing his ideas with Idlewild bandmate Andrew Mitchell and later linking up with friend Danny Grant in Glasgow who lent his hand to crafting some electronic grooves with Woomble.

With some poetry added to the embryonic songs, it wasn't long before Lo! Soul came to life and another album was ready for release – capturing a very unusual period for the songwriter.

"Each record I release signifies a point in my life," Woomble reflects. "They all have a special meaning to me. My albums are very reflective, and Lo! Soul especially so. We made a collection of songs together, but we were all alone as we did it.

"Normally I'd come up with songs in a room, or studio, with another person, or a band, so putting together an album remotely like this at home was completely different. It was challenging, but also very creative and the limitations we faced also gave us the freedom to experiment more.

Woomble posits that lockdown presented a sense of "collective melancholy" that had a guiding hand throughout the writing and recording. But, despite the subject matter, he feels the finished product has a positive outlook.

He adds: "There is a strain of existentialist thinking throughout all my work, I suppose, but it's not morbid. Death lies under all we do, but that gives our life its meaning. Lo! Soul is not a record about death. I actually find it quite hopeful."

Lo! Soul – released on Friday, May 21 – bears all the Roddy Woomble hallmarks, with touches of his earlier solo work, laced into the fabric of the Everyday Sun EP, released in 2020.

The description of dystopian pop is apt. Themes of isolation are clear but there is an overriding thread of hope serving as a guiding light.

For Woomble, the album stands as a real silver lining through all that has transpired in the last 12 months or so.

He says: "I actually didn't set out to make an album last year. I had been thinking more about maybe a book of poems, but after Andrew, Danny and I started swapping musical ideas about an album started to emerge. Lo! Soul is an unexpected delight."

Alloa and Hillfoots Advertiser: Woomble's new album Lo! Soul is out next monthWoomble's new album Lo! Soul is out next month

BEFORE the year is over, Woomble is aiming to tour the UK for a second time – and has a special reason to do so.

Last year, plans were in place for Idlewild to celebrate 25 years as a band with an anniversary tour. The shows were booked for November 2020, and everything seemed to be gearing up for a classic only for covid to ruin it all.

Rescheduled dates have been set for November this year and hopes of seeing the band – including all the members down the years – back on stage are once again flourishing.

Woomble said: "We all thought that we should mark the anniversary in some way. These concerts are a chance for us to celebrate all the albums that we've made and the songs we've written together, and for fans who have followed us all (or some) of the way."

"We had a plan in place, but I think we're waiting to see if the shows can happen this year before we replan. Hopefully, we can involve all the members of Idlewild from over the last 25 years, and we'll play a long set with songs from all the albums."

When asked about the sheer staying power of the band, the frontman adds: "I wrote it all down in a book In The Beginning There Were Answers, which is out now. I have always kept diaries and taken photos, so it wasn't that hard to lay the story out for others to read.

"Longevity was never an ambition for us as a band, but it happened naturally as we changed and adapted through the years. Idlewild have been a few different bands in that time."