Emma Pollock, The Duchess, York, March 20 (From York Press)

Emma Pollock, The Duchess, York, March 20

2:45pm Friday 19th March 2010 in

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After recording your debut solo album, Watch The Fireworks, for 4AD, you have returned to Chemikal Underground - the Scottish indie label you co-founded - for album number two, The Law Of Large Numbers. How come, Emma?

“Working with 4AD was quite fascinating, although it wasn’t new to me as 4AD had licensed the Delgados albums. When I decided to go solo, I didn’t want to do it with the people I’d split from as that would have felt odd; I wanted to have a fresh perspective rather than the history.

“But 4AD has since become an umbrella, eating up the Beggars Banquet and Too Pure labels, and I felt I wouldn’t have fitted with their remit of dealing with commercial acts.

“Returning to Chemikal Underground has primarily given me the chance to make a record that’s more raw, whereas the previous one was very much made in the shadow of The Delgados.”

How does the new album differ in concept from the first?

“It’s more of a departure. I don’t really want to care too much about commerciality, as you get to a point where you have to decide whether you want to keep doing your music or not, and you’re no longer chasing radio play and the charts. Now I just want to be judged as a musician, doing the music I like.

“I don’t think there’s any point in creating new music using the established template.”

Give an example of your sense of freedom.

“A song like The Loop on the new album, I would never have done that with The Delgados because it’s reflective of one person and you realise it isn’t about four people in a band any more…but there’s nothing more frightening than facing a blank canvas!”

How has your music progressed since Watch The Fireworks?

“It’s a lot more eclectic and has more space and doesn’t rely as much on a traditional structure. I’ve thrown things to the wind as the tracks are so different that it’s almost difficult to believe they are on one album, but I think that no matter how disparate the elements, it’s still one piece of work because it’s been put together by one set of musicians and one producer – my husband [Paul Savage] in this case.”

Has jazz been an influence on the new album?

“Well, I suppose from an ideological point of view, music can be whatever it wants. There is jazz thinking on the record and funnily enough there is some Dixieland jazz on there, and there’s rawness in the way the instruments mesh on Red Orange Green, a track I’m very fond of because I wanted this album to be darker but still vocally melodic.

“What I was trying to do was let the songs work themselves out in the studio, so lots of the vocals were improvised in the studio – like on Chemistry Will Find Me – and it’s exciting to find that something can come out of the studio, just like that.”

Does becoming a more experienced musician with each passing album influence your songwriting?

“This album was about working with structure and sound and being confident that I could do that – and that partly comes from experience.

“That’s why musicians keep doing it: the chase of the perfect melody and construction of a song. So you make something and then you’ll feel the need to make something else.

“It’s like everything else in life: the chase is always more exciting.

“So it’s something I’ll continue to delve into, especially now we have our studio, Chem 19, work so well now after re-building it in 2005.”

What should be read into your album title, The Law Of Large Numbers?

“There’s a place for the random in music making, but there’s no direct link between the title and how the album has been made.

“It’s just an observation and a reflection of my working practices and my interest in science, which I studied at university.

“There’s a correlation between music and mathematics and I want to bring my fascination with the subject to the record in the way that art is about form and structure, just as it is about the random.

“You get it in nature as well: people talk about why a face is beautiful comes down to the symmetry of the two sides of the face, and you can apply that to music too.

“I know I’ve made it sound like the album is a lecture, but it isn’t!”

Emma Pollock plays The Duchess, York, tomorrow. Box office: 0844 477 1000.