Alt-folk legend Rick Redbeard began working on a project with friend David McAulay to find some normality during the Covid pandemic.

Rick (The Phantom Band) and David (Strike the Colours) regularly sent one another ideas and songs during that wilderness lockdown year.

That collaboration ultimately morphed into Afterlands and the sublime debut album We Are The Animals In The Night.

It is surely an early contender for Scottish Album of the Year.

Afterlands will perform tracks from the album at Tunnels, Aberdeen on Saturday, June 8.

Rick said: “Davie has been a pal for a long time and we met during The Phantom Band recordings in 2009.

“We really became good friends when we were doing  a masters at Glasgow School of Art and started working together on a few projects.

“During the pandemic Davie sent me ideas he had and I would work or sing on them.

“I would also sent Daviie things I had written but hadn’t developed much and he would record things on that and rearrange it.

“It was very collaborative and based on a desire for experimentation and to see where it could lead us.

“We didn’t have a record label waiting to hear something.

“It was just us two working together during lockdown, exchanging ideas and talking about things.

“We didn’t even let our partners hear it for months then they eventually got to hear odd bits and bobs.

“After the pandemic we started to think about developing it a bit more with instrumentation or other players.

“Things grew a bit more when we could all be in a room together.”

‘It was very easy during lockdown to lose the thread of reality’

Afterlands’ debut album includes a stellar cast including Johnny Scott (Chvrches) and Joe Smillie (Modern Studies) on drums.

Also performing are Jessica Argo (Glasgow Improviser’s Orchestra) on theremin, Pete Harvey (Modern Studies/Andrew Wasylyk) on cello and Kev Brolly (Admiral Fallow) on clarinet.

The album was mixed  by Paul Savage (The Delgados) at Chem19 in Glasgow.

Rick said: “It was very easy during lockdown to lose the thread of reality and what was actually happening in your day to day life.

“Having goals to work to was really healthy.

“I structured my day around doing a bit of exercise and then doing some music with whatever Davie had sent over.

“It was good to have a creative outlook.”

Aberdeen homecoming for Rick

Rick rose to prominence as the front-man of influential alt-folk trailblazers The Phantom Band.

They released four acclaimed albums Checkmate Savage (2009), The Wants (2010), Strange Friend (2014) and Fears Trending (2015).

For the singer/songwriter, real name Rick Anthony, performing in Aberdeen will be a homecoming.

He said: “I was born in Aberdeen but grew up near Midmar with Sauchen the nearest village.

“I lived in Aberdeen for a few years as I went to University there before moving to Glasgow in 2002.

“Aberdeen is where I played my first live performance and I have a lot of friends and family in the area.

“It will always be the home where I grew up and that stays with you.”

‘Jill is such an incredible singer’

Afterlands is the latest show to be curated by Aberdeen based Interesting Music Promotions (IMP).

In November last year IMP celebrated the 20th anniversary of bringing ground breaking artists to the Granite City.

Amongst the many legendary shows curated by IMP are Boredoms, Faust, Thee More Shallows, tUnE-yArDs and Kuunatic.

In another memorable IMP bill Jill Lorean will deliver a solo performance before playing with Afterlands.

Rick said: “I’ve always wanted to sing with Jill since way back in the Sparrow And The Workshop days.

“We have both been friends with Jill for a number of years.

“Sparrow And The Workshop were always a band I loved and Jill is such an incredible singer.

“This project seemed like a good opportunity to do a duet with Jill.

“There were a couple of tracks I thought might lend themselves to a duet form.

“So I rewrote the lyrics and reached out to Jill and asked her if she would be interested.

“She was really into it and recorded her parts in one or two takes.

“The moment we heard Jill we knew it was exactly right and elevated the tracks.

“We are really lucky that Jill got involved.”