The singer-songwriter on breaking up his band, recovering from a stroke, being too old to be a punk, and the chaos of recording with Mark E Smith

In these deeply troubled, fractured, febrile times, why did you call the new record Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation? smileywombat
It was Grace’s choice [Grace Maxwell, his wife and musical collaborator]. Up in Helmsdale [in the Scottish Highlands], in my studio, I have an art deco radiogram speaker which has a sort of sunburst thing with that phrase written on it. For £60 on eBay – pristine! It was the BBC World Service motto. When we were casting about for a title for the new record, it seemed like a great expression. Grace said, if you’re going to call it that you have to write a song with that title. So I did.

I very much enjoyed the new song Knowledge and the video, shot in Helmsdale. Do you like to travel much these days or are you pretty much happy at home? nogs09
I like Helmsdale, and Grace loves it. When I was seven, eight years old, I spent every holiday in Helmsdale, walking with Stuart, my grandfather. And, one year, Mum and Dad said, I think we’ll go to Spain. I said, you can go wherever you like – I’m going to Helmsdale. We’ve been abroad loads of times since I had the stroke [in 2005] – to Japan once, to Australia. But I love getting home to the studio. That fragrance of the air. The fresh air. It’s beautiful.