They say long live the king and all, but nothing’s ever set in stone. A quarter of a century since his self-inflicted coronation, and self-released debut solo album, Kenny Anderson – DIY pop voyager, ancestral seaside home restorer, squeezebox lothario, Fife for lifer, diamond miner, hijacker of hearts, and the man also known as King Creosote – has released over 100 records (at a relatively conservative guess), collaborated with the likes of Jon Hopkins, KT Tunstall, Beta Band’s Lone Pigeon, and had his songs covered and performed by artists including Patti Smith and Simple Minds. He’s now got a new LP, despite or perhaps because of it all. It’s called I DES and will be released on November 3rd.

And no, it hasn’t bypassed a songwriter so buoyed by playful lyricism that the title of this latest release is an easy anagram of “Dies”. But bear a couple of things in mind: 1) I DES is a reference to KC’s key collaborator this time around – multi-instrumentalist and co-producer Derek O’Neill aka Des Lawson of Blantyre (2014’s From Scotland With Love, 2016’s Astronaut Meets Appleman); and 2) HRH King Creosote has been circling his demise for the entirety of his musakal life.

“I shan’t complain,” he rejoices on the album’s most uplifting hymn “Blue Marbled Elm Trees” – a new song also shared today – “I had the best time laughing with my girls / I had the best life offered up / By this blue marble or any alien world.”