The Scotsman Sessions #427: David Luximon

“It’s only in the last few years that things have crystallized,” he says. Those last few years have involved returning to his native Scotland with his young family after years of living in London. Luximon was born in Edinburgh but moved to rural Perthshire during the pandemic.

“These moves and the associated themes, the change of pace, being surrounded by nature, and the idea of ‘home’ run through the whole record,” he says.

From the elegant succour of People Need People Like You to the burnished epic Sowing For Butterflies, A Certain Frame of Reference is a soothing yet ambitious symphonic songwriter album, realised with the help of a number of guest players including cellist Liz Hanks, Conor Smith (Blue Rose Code) on pedal steel and the redoubtable one man brass band Terry Edwards, who has played with PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Madness and Tom Waits in his time.

“It’s such a genuine pleasure to have all these incredible musicians say yes to working on the record,” says Luximon. “Whilst the drums and more orchestral parts of the album were recorded all over, I recorded all of my parts at home on my own, which I think helped to create an intimacy within the record. It’s quite unencumbered, and hopefully that’s captured.”

Luximon also recorded his Scotsman Session performance at his home near Crieff, with windows open to the Perthshire countryside. I’m Taking You For A Drive was the first song written for the new album and is its opening track.

“One of the major themes of the record is about how do you support the ones you love through grief or trauma, or at least try to,” says Luximon. “There’s a stillness or a frozen quality to this song, of someone hitting the pause button and lives going into stasis when these huge unexpected events happen. Sometimes all you can do is to try and take someone out of a situation for just a moment and offer quiet distraction – in this case, a drive in the country.”

A Certain Frame of Reference will be released by the prolific Last Night From Glasgow label and was recorded with the support of Creative Scotland’s Open Fund. “As we were rolling out the first single, the news broke that the Open Fund was being suspended,” says Luximon. [It has subsequently been reinstated]. “It just underlined how grateful I was for the support I’d received, and how vital arts funding is as, without it, these projects may not exist.”

David Luximon-Herbert plays the Jazz Bar, Edinburgh, 1 December. A Certain Frame Of Reference is released on vinyl and online on 29 November via Last Night From Glasgow