PALE FIRE'S upcoming album may well have christened Husbands – but this one goes out to the wives and partners.

The Lanarkshire six-piece are preparing to unleash their impressive new record next month, a full five years after their eponymous debut in 2015.

A long-time in the making, the 12-track stomper was recorded last year with the plan to release early in 2020. However, with the Covid-19 outbreak in full swing, the band opted to postpone until after their summer.

In the end the date was locked in and Husbands will be unleashed on September 4.

Kris O'Rourke, the band's guitarist, concedes their absence will have been noticeable but he feels sure many will appreciate their situation.

He told The Weekender: "The five-year gap between our debut and Husbands can be explained quite simply: real life got in the way.

"We all have families and careers, so although we are incredibly passionate about our band, family and work quite simply have to come first

"In addition, the recording was entirely self-funded, so we were mostly chipping away at it on weekends after payday.

"We're very fortunate to have exceptionally patient and supportive partners and wives who picked up the domestic slack while we were away living out our schoolboy fantasies in the studio.

"Rock n' Roll is all very well and good, but at the end of the day, someone has to do the bath and bedtime routines.

"Quite simply, this album would not exist with the encouragement and hands-on support of our better halves."

Sure enough, if a band will have five years between releases then it will be important to make sure every detail is as desired during recording.

For Husbands, Pale Fire went big. The finished product is as polished as it is dynamic – everything is a little more epic, with strings floaty and expressive over the top of dominating route notes.

The work is deliberate and showcases the sheer talent the band has to offer.

O'Rourke said: "Husbands is a significantly more ambitious record. Since 2015, we've matured in the way we write and arrange songs; a little more considered, maybe.

"We also wanted to collaborate with other musicians; the album features some of the most talented players that Scotland has to offer.

"With the addition of strings, brass and keys the album started to take on a life of its own. We wanted to make big music where the bombast is justified.

"Jamie Savage at Chem19 is our friend and an extremely gifted producer and having built a solid relationship with him on our first album we knew that he would help us to achieve our vision."

The guitarist added: "A win would be quite simply to make a meaningful connection with people. As lofty and pretentious as it may sound, we'd like our music to offer people some modicum of comfort and make them feel less alone.

"All art is about empathy. Any great work of art contains moments of insight created by a person that has absolutely no knowledge of your existence; however, their work not only speaks directly to you about your life, but also leaves you reeling, thinking: I thought I was the only person who felt or thought that way.

"There is no greater experience than a song or album making you feel less alone.

"It is extremely exciting to have the album finished and ready for release, and we can't wait for people to hear it. If people like our music, we'd like them to tell their friends, and to come to see us play live when live music comes back."

Husbands will be available for purchase on September 4 by visiting palefireglasgow.bandcamp.com. The album will be uploaded to steaming platforms on September 9.