James Yorkston is at his home in Fife, an amplified voice inside a tiny telephone speaker, but still not loud enough to wake a sleeping child. Which is just as well, because it's Sunday evening and only a few minutes have elapsed since James' two year-old son drifted off to sleep. "For what it's worth, my kids really like the record” he begins, "I've been using it to get them off to sleep in the car. It's proved a useful tool...”

Ten years ago, when James Yorkston signed to Domino Records, there were no small children on which to road-test new...