GLASGOW folk-pop act Randolph’s Leap were never likely to pick a normal studio to work in.

Most of the band’s recordings have been put together in the home of singer Adam Ross, so for new album Cowardly Deeds he decided to book the band a couple of weeks in a converted farmhouse near Biggar.

“We did it in Gran’s House Studio near Biggar, and it was out in the middle of nowhere,” explains Adam, ahead of the band launching the album at St Luke’s tomorrow.

“There were no neighbours and we moved in for two weeks, so we could get up whenever we wanted, record we whenever we wanted and work late into the night if we wanted to. It was quite a relaxing process, actually – in the past I’d always been drawn to home recording, because of the control you have over it, and when we’ve done a little bit of studio recording in the past I’ve always found it a stressful affair when you’re paying by the hour and clock watching.”

Adam isn’t being strictly truthful when he mentions that there were no neighbours, though. The studio’s location meant they found themselves recording alongside a stoat, who’d made his home underneath the studio floorboards.

“That became a convenient excuse for Keith (Holmes, the album’s engineer) whenever there were any technical problems,” chuckles Adam.

“He could blame them on the stoat chewing through the wires!”

There were few difficulties with the songs themselves, though. Over an album and a host of EP’s and other releases the eight-piece band have stamped out an identity as one of Scotland’s brightest pop acts, and Cowardly Deeds continues that trend, from the warm, summery harmonies of Under The Sun to the sprightly bounce of Back Of My Mind and the joyous brass explosion of Goodbye.

It’s a cheery bunch of tunes that offsets some of Adam’s more pensive lyrics. He points to one of the album’s themes being fear and doubt influencing too many decisions in life.

“On a personal basis, I think there’s a tendency to let emotions like doubt and fear affect your decision making rather than optimism and trust,” he explains.

“I guess things like the independence referendum made me think about things like that as a stimulus for decision making, so that was all swimming around in my head at the time.”

It also marks the first time Adam’s written songs with the full band in mind.

“I kinda felt there was a growing disparity between what I was recording at home and what the live band was sounding like,” he explains.

“We’d never done an album with that full sound, and I was keen to do it while we had the opportunity.”

The band have previously marked releases with items like tea towels, and have always been a very DIY outfit. Therefore there were some typically quirky gifts to mark the release of the single Not Thinking, including jigsaw puzzles.

“We’ve sent out some Randolph’s Leap temporary tattoos as well as the jigsaws,” adds Adam.

“It’s nice to have a few extra things, especially when people are doing so much digitally. One of the band just suggested a jigsaw when we were looking for new ideas – we found somewhere to get it made quite easily and went with it.”

Adam has pieced together a new part of his life, too. After living in Partick for several years he recently moved to a small village near Stirling.

“It’s a big change, but it’s one that I was looking for,” he says.

“I grew up in a small town in Nairn in the Highlands before I moved to Glasgow for seven years – I loved it there, and I’m glad I’m only 40 minutes away, but I was getting done in with city life and was spending all my time getting out of the city.”

Randolph’s Leap, St Luke’s, Friday, £10, 7pm