WHEN Guy Garvey closed last summer's solo show at Dalby Forest by revealing Elbow would be back in action in 2017, little did it occur that such a return might include another night in the North Yorkshire woodland for Garvey.

Yet here he is, Garvey and his Elbow band mates, playing Dalby Forest on Saturday, with the weather set fair for an airing of songs from this year's chart-topping seventh album, Little Fictions, and more besides from a recording career stretching back to 2001's Asleep In The Back.

In the line-up, as ever, will be bass player Pete Turner as Elbow prepare to perform songs from an album whose tone is influenced by Garvey being all loved up with his bride, the actress Rachael Stirling.

"Guy tied the knot last June," says Pete. "It's all a bit of a hazy memory, but a good wedding shouldn't really be remembered, should it?! It was all a bit of whirlwind; they met at Benedict Cumberbatch's wedding, and that was it! She's lovely, loads of fun!"

By November, the album was written and recorded, although the release date was held back to February. "But we haven't stopped since then; in January we were rehearsing; in February we promoted the album all over the place; in March we were on tour," says Pete.

One significant change has taken place: last year drummer Richard Jupp left Elbow after 25 years, and no, he wasn't Elbowed out. "Richard just wanted to concentrate on other things. He's always been a family man, and a lot of time goes into recording an album, promoting it and touring, and he didn't seem to be enjoying it as much," says Pete. "It's like any relationship, if someone's not enjoying it anymore, we completely understood why they might want to leave."

The band members had been due to meet up last January in Stirlingshire. "We'd been expecting him to come, but Richard left two days before we went to Scotland," recalls Pete.

"We were sat licking our wounds, but though it was a writing trip, it was also just about getting together thinking about what we'd be doing with Richard gone. I've known him since primary school, for 37-38 years, so it's sad that he's out of our lives, but we all agreed we didn't want to replace him with someone else on the album."

Instead, Elbow used drum loops on Little Fictions, recorded in sessions built around the demands of family life. "I've got to say it was the easiest album to write for all of us. Sometimes, when you're in a situation where someone is unhappy but no-one wants to talk about, when that person goes, it's freeing, though of course we miss Richard," says Pete.

"The thing with this record is that because of what happened at the start of the writing process, with Richard leaving, it was important that there was no drop in standards, and the reviews have been better than they were for The Take Off And Landing Of Everything."

The album-sleeve photo session took place on a very cold, icy day in Pembrokeshire, but this weekend promises far better conditions. "I remember we did Delamere Forest when The Seldom Seen Kid came out in 2008, and it was a beautiful afternoon and evening, really still," Pete recalls. "It's a bit different when it pours down, but when that happens, we all just pull together and have a good time!"

Elbow play Dalby Forest, near Pickering, part of the Forestry Commission's Forest Live summer concert series, on Saturday, supported by Ed Harcourt at 7.30pm. Tickets update: still available on 03000 680400 or at forestry.gov.uk