Spotlight On... Inyal

Scottish folk/electronica outfit Inyal return this month with Fathoms, their first album in eight years. Co-produced by Andrea Gobbi (Glasvegas/Laki Mera), Fathoms is an amazingly evocative record that combines a whole plethora of genres, from trance, trip-hop and electronica, with beautifully atmospheric string arrangements, piano compositions and more.

To celebrate the album’s release, the five-piece – comprised of Josie Duncan (vocals), Robbie Greig (fiddle), Hamish Macleod (synths, programming and guitar), Conal McDonagh (pipes and whistle) and Owen Sinclair (drums and percussion) – will expand to 11 for a special Celtic Connections show at SWG3 on 30 January where they’ll be joined by a string quartet among others. Ahead of the album’s release and that massive forthcoming show, we catch up with Macleod to find out more.

Inyal have been away for a fair amount of time, would you say that's been a product of the pandemic or was there some other reason for the gap in live shows and releases?
The pandemic definitely impacted us as a band, as it did every other act. That, coupled with a few band members fleeing Glasgow for the Highlands and the first Inyal sprog, led to us taking more time away than we expected. As such, it’s been brilliant to get together again and work on new music.

For the new album, you work with a lot of other musicians, from violinist Seonaid Aitken to pianist Dan Brown, aka Tarn. How did these collaborations come about?
We’ve admired Seonaid’s work for a long time, and own three copies of Dan’s Tarn record between us, so we were delighted they came on board. Over the course of our time as a band, we’ve been fortunate to meet and play with some amazing musicians from different disciplines, and recording the album was a great opportunity to hijack some of their talent for our own gain. Patsy Reid also features heavily on the album, having written and performed lush string parts on some of the tracks.

What was the process like when it came to working with these other musicians? How would you say they influenced the record and overall songwriting, if at all?
For the most part, the arrangement process was the same as ever. Each track starts with a basic idea, usually a tune or a song, and is expanded upon from there. In some cases, the acoustic elements of the music will heavily contribute to the shape of a track, while at other times, the synths and programming will drive the writing. Once we had arrangements that we were happy with, we then took them to other musicians, and their contributions completely exceeded what we had hoped for. Like the cherry on top of the record, if the record was music cake.

Another key player was Andrea Gobbi, who acted as an engineer and co-producer during recording and mixing. His insights into all things trad and electronic music were invaluable, and he forced us to examine details that we would previously have been too lazy to worry about. The result is a record that we’re all very happy with, and which is richer for all the collaboration that went into it.

I'd love to know more about the themes behind Fathoms. As I admitted in our January new music column, I don't speak Gaelic, so while it all sounds beautiful to me, lyrically it's all a little hazy...
The songs we chose for the album deal for the most part with universal themes like heartache, nostalgia and unrequited love. Most of them are quite old songs and a big part of their staying power probably comes from the fact that everyone, save for the extremely charmed, can relate to them. It could also be that the old melodies have stuck around because of how compelling they are, and that makes them brilliant source material for any type of music.

A lot of the songs are originally from Lewis because that’s where our singer Josie is from, and she has a less-than-unconscious bias towards poetry and melodies from her neck of the woods. She also firmly believes that the best Chinese takeaway in Scotland can be found in Stornoway, and that driving around the town centre there for a few hours is what great nights out are made of. Who are we to argue?

I love how you've managed to bring together so many disparate genres to make a record that feels wonderfully cohesive, evocative and fresh but nostalgic at the same time. Can you tell us about some of the wider musical influences that have played a part in shaping Fathoms?
Everyone in the band has a strong connection to Scotland’s Gàidhealtachd, and has also lived in Glasgow for over a decade at one point or another. It’s fair to say that those two cultures, more than anything else, are what has shaped the album’s sound.

When listening to music together, albums by Jon Hopkins and Bicep are as likely to feature as YouTube clips of the Whalers of Glenuig. There isn’t a dancefloor in the country that we couldn’t clear inside ten minutes with that DJ set but, ultimately, it’s all just great music. We were also all lucky to have music feature heavily in our lives from a young age, and are indebted to both the Fèis movement and the unshakable patience of our parents.

To celebrate the album's release, you're playing a special Celtic Connections show at the end of the month with an extended 11-piece lineup. What can people expect on the night?
It’s going to be some night. We’re bringing a bit of spectacle along, with a big light show and some amazing technicians on board. The band’s lineup will also be bolstered by a string quartet, Dan Brown on piano and Ali Hutton on whistles. All that makes it a big step up in scale from anything we’ve done before, and we’re excited to do it all in a venue like SWG3. Our good friends MAL are on the bill as well, and we’re really looking forward to their set. They’re fantastic live and will be pulling out all the stops for this one.

Beyond the album and the Celtic Connections show, what does the rest of 2026 have in store for Inyal?
A lot of our attention has been focused on launching the album, and we haven’t given much thought yet to what’s next. The ideal scenario would be that our last single is used as the new theme music for Love Island, and we can all live out the rest of our days idly in enormous stately homes. Failing that, we’ll probably start putting some new music together so that the next gap between albums isn’t quite so long.

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Fathoms is released on 23 Jan; Inyal play SWG3, Glasgow for Celtic Connections, 30 Jan

Follow Inyal on Instagram @inyalband

inyal.bandcamp.com / inyalband.com