The album was put together on the Isle of Mull,” Robert tells me. “As a title, it encapsulates where we were physically but also, if you listen to the lyrics, it summarises it in quite a lot of different ways in terms of what an ocean full of islands could be.” Tide Lines today release their eagerly anticipated new album ‘An Ocean Full of Islands’ featuring the Radio 2 playlisted single ‘Written In The Scars’, plus ‘These Days’ and ‘Rivers in the Light’. Next week they embark on a tour of the UK and Ireland, which includes a long sold-out show at Edinburgh’s 2800-capacity Usher Hall, as well as their biggest London gig to date at the Electric Ballroom. Also confirmed as headliners at The Gathering Festival, Tide Lines recently announced their biggest ever headline show, a 6,000-capacity big top festival-style show at Glasgow’s Queen’s Park.

What Tide Lines gained in dramatic scale didn’t compromise the intimacy and honesty of Robertson’s lyrics. The new single ‘Written In The Scars’ shows how his voice truly conveys the meaning of his words. Life charges relentlessly forwards, and you rarely have the time to see how your experiences influence who you are. But just like a long forgotten scar, the impact of those moments may fade but they never fully disappear. The band’s third, self-produced album is titled ‘An Ocean Full of Islands’ and is set for release in February. I ask what led them down the self-produced route. How is it seeing the listeners’ response to your music and what can they expect from your upcoming album? You are set to release your new album An Ocean Full of Islandson February 24th 2023, how long have you been working on the release and how have you chosen which songs will feature on it? I’m absolutely fascinated by drums,” he says, unashamedly. “I don’t really do golfing or cycling… or archery. To be honest, I just play drums.”For those that haven’t heard your music, can you tell us about each band member and how would you describe your sound? It was, he says, a natural next step for the band, although, the bagpipes appear slightly less than on the previous albums.

Tide Lines launch the album alongside its brand new single ‘Written In the Scars’. Listen HERE. Today they also reveal details of a major UK tour set for March 2023, which will see them play some of their biggest headline shows to date including Edinburgh’s Usher Hall and London’s Electric Ballroom. That was magic!” says Robert. “We got some really nice prime time plays on Radio 2 which is really great. We’ve had good radio play from across the board and long may that continue. We’ll have another single coming out in the new year… so hopefully that can be the same.” The band's first studio album Dreams We Never Lost was released in June 2017 following the release of their first single Far Side Of The World some months earlier. The album is a mix of English and Gaelic songs as well as the Piob Mhor Pipe set. Two further singles Fortunes of the Fearless and The Young and The Restless were also released as singles from this album.Their second album, Eye of the Storm, was released in May 2020 and debuted at #12 in the Official UK Album Charts. Eye of the Storm also topped both the Scottish and independent album charts on the week of its release. [4] We wanted to chart it,” says Robert, referring to ‘Eye of the Storm’ which did actually chart at number 12 in the UK in the first week and made it to number one in Scotland.