IT’S been a decade since Maximo Park first exploded on the pop scene - but singer Paul Smith reckons it’s only now that he’s happy with his voice.

The energetic frontman will be at the Barrowland with Maximo towards the end of November, as part of a special run of shows marking 10 years since they released first album A Certain Trigger.

Before then he’s bringing his latest solo album, called Contradictions, to King Tut’s on Wednesday night.

Recorded under the name Paul Smith and the Intimations, it’s an album that still packs a pop punch, with plenty of catchy melodies throughout it.

It’s also got a softer side, particularly with how Paul sings on the record.

“I wouldn’t say I’m Frank Sinatra but at least I’m comfortable with how I sing now, and that enables me to do tracks like Brain Cells on the last Maximo album, or the softer vocals on Contradictions,” he says.

“It feels very me (on the new album), and feeling like you’re singing in your own skin is very important.

"It’s good to have a nerviness still there on some songs, but it’s good to have a warmth there too.

"Some of those songs mean I can express myself in a different way than with Maximo, and having more ways of doing that is important.”

Although Maximo’s next activity is an anniversary tour, they’re still an ongoing concern, releasing fifth album Too Much Information last year.

Yet the past several months have seen Paul focus on Contradictions, the follow-up to his first solo release in 2010, Margins.

Some of the songs that form Contradictions were originally written for the North East rockers, but Paul reckons that they didn’t give the rest of the band enough room in them.

“Quite a few of them I’d played to the band, and we tried to work through it, but it just didn’t happen,” he explains.

“I was still feeling very confident about songs like Break Me Down, which was one we tried with Maximo, and I suppose some of the songs I write don’t really give the band a place to go.

“Sometimes there’s songs where people can fit into, but if I’m playing the guitar and feeling quite specific about it, then you’re doing a thing where you’re the leader, and in Maximo there aren’t any leaders - we try to be as democratic as possible.”

Following Paul’s side-project, he’ll be straight back out on the road with the rest of the Maximo lads to revisit, A Certain Trigger’s jumpy, arty indie in full.

“As a band we try not to look back,” he adds.

“I had a record with the band last year, a record with Peter Brewis from Field Music (Frozen By Sight) and then the solo record this year.

"But it’s nice sometimes to say what have we done and where are we now - what’s the state of affairs in Maximo Park land?

“This feels like a nice way to say thanks to people by playing these songs we haven’t played in a long time, and there’ll be a few rarities too, that maybe could have made the record.

"It’s nice to have a party and say we made it 10 years.”

And, of course, there will be few bigger celebrations than in Glasgow, where the group have always been popular.

“I like Glasgow as a place - my brother stayed there for a while so I’d come up and visit him and get to know the city better,” he explains.

“When choosing the venues for the tours, the Barrowland was a no-brainer for Maximo.

"You store up these memories and I’ve got plenty of great ones from Glasgow.

“They’re going to be quite different shows, so I feel quite lucky that I can play a smaller venue with my own new stuff and then people still want to come and see Maximo Park.”

Paul Smith, King Tut‘s, Wednesday, £13, 8pm