Sleight Return: Malcolm Middleton

How many people do you know who grew up with heavy metal, were in a punk band, like Girls Aloud and now play only acoustic? None? Well now you can put Malcolm Middleton in the pigeon hole.  It’s only been two years since he took to the lonely solo road away from former band Arab Strap and he’s already got four albums hidden up his kilt. Last week saw the release of Sleight of Heart which amazingly only took 5 days to record! Surely working that intensely doesn’t go swimmingly? “The recording this time was easier than normal. Yes it is very stressful sometimes but there are a lot of highs as well”

Despite singing beautifully in his own accent he isn’t a fan of the London singers. You know the type. Kate Nash to The Enemy to Hard Fi. We’ve all heard it. But in his defence Malcolm adds “It’s the Libertines yeah. It’s amazing how much they’ve inspired people in such a short time” Talking of short time, Malcolm’s first major solo single ‘We’re All Going To Die’ was the fourth favourite to become number 1 so are there any songs on the new album we can expect the same success from? “I think Blue Plastic Bags is a strong song but my personal favourites would be 'Week Off' and 'Total Bliss'”

So why DID he go down the guitar loving route? “I’ve been playing guitar for twenty years now since I was 14 and it’s just something that works. I first learnt to play some Iron Maiden. Even though I used to always get told I was crap and had no musical talent” So it could perhaps be due to this low self confidence as to why he began to cover people. On Sleight of heart there’s a lovely rendition of Madonna’s Stay and a King Creosote cover. “I’ve got a good cover of N trance set you free too.” He’s not always a fan learning somebody else’s songs though as they make him sound like a pub singer.