Kiran Leonard's sixth album is called Real Home. The title refers to the way the album was conceived; the experimental English songwriter/multi-instrumentalist having recorded the LP wholly in "homes and domestic spaces". But it also speaks at themes at play on the record.

Many of the songs were written after Leonard relocated to London in 2018, as he dealt with the alienation and isolation of life in a big city; a far cry from the Saddleworth moors on which he grew up.

From there, the shape-shifting songs became a study in "different ways of connecting with people in large pressured spaces", of rejecting the social and economic dictates that drive people towards individual striving.

In his first interview in six years, Leonard speaks to Anthony Carew on The International Pop Underground about writing songs, writing songs about the writing of songs, learning to navigate urban environments, and the life-changing joys of riding a bike.

Feature image: Ben Beauvallet