FEEDER frontman Grant Nicholas is to release a companion piece to last year's debut solo album, Yorktown Heights.

Ahead of the April 6 release of Black Clouds on Poppy Candy Records, Grant will showcase songs from the six track mini-album at Fibbers in York on Tuesday night.

Many of the new songs were written during the Yorktown Heights sessions and later recorded at his own Treehouse Studios in North London. "I think sonically and lyrically there's a thread and it feels right that way as Yorktown Heights is still very much alive," says Grant. So much so, he includes the track Joan Of Arc on both records "I approach lyrics like I imagine a film in my head or a script of some sort that is inspired by something or someone.

The songs touch on general life, relationships, family, alienation etc and I like to build characters into some of them too. If people can find a connection with the melody and words then that's the key for me and I think those are the best songs.”

Black Clouds ushers in more electronica to complement the acoustic landscapes of Yorktown Heights. "I tried to make this album with a more old school, almost classic Sixties and Seventies sound and approach but also mixing it with some more modern sounds and textures to give it its own character and less of a straight retro feel," says Grant. "I want these songs to work around a camp fire, as well as on the Pyramid stage."

These solo albums do not signify the end of Feeder. "The thing is, Feeder is only a small band in size, so it's not that different writing songs solo," says Grant. "We've had 22-23 years in the band and I feel my loyalty to it; Feeder is a massive part of my life. The last tour sold out but I decided I wanted to stop on a high, to take some time out, break the cycle of a Feeder album every two years.

"I wanted to show another side, do some songwriting for others, or co-writing, but then I realised I had a body of new songs that encouraged me to do a solo record with the support of friends."

First Yorktown Heights, and now Black Clouds ensued. "I've had a lot of fun writing and recording Black Clouds and have also found working as a solo artist certainly pushes you to bare your soul and find new ways of approaching things," says Grant.

"Feeder is not something that I've left behind; we will get together again, but the solo work is something I want to explore further. Working this way, it's more about how the songs start off; there's something more organic about them.

"I've been inspired by anything from Nick Drake to Simon & Garfunkel and classic American rock. I probably write more 'classic' songs for Feeder than rock songs but these solo songs are more about the lyrics. They're more personal, writing about my family and relationships."

Grant will be leading a four-piece acoustic band at Fibbers. "I think every artist in a big band still craves playing smaller gigs too," he says. "It's hard work but it's so enjoyable as we don't have a huge amount of gear; it can all fit into a small van."

Where is Yorktown Heights?

"It's about an hour north of Manhattan, in New York. There's an area called Yorktown and we made the Yorktown Heights album out there, or about half of it" says Grant. "I went out there to do the vocals and I felt so inspired that while I was there, I did loads of overdubs and a couple of new tracks."