The album is called Peacetime. Why did you choose that title?
| Eddi Reader | - Eddi Reader plays the Lowry on Sunday 25 February. Tickets are £18.50
- Peacetime is out now on Rough Trade Records
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"It just became appropriate for the whole feeling behind it and the way the songs sounds together. It’s an album that tries to be calm and be at peace with the world, both inner and outer peace. There’s themes about forgiveness and whether you should have faith. "There are also songs about when you don’t want that peace. The song, Ye Banks And Braes O’ Bonnie Doon, is about not wanting any peace because the person singing it is in love with someone and can’t have them, so can’t come to terms with the lack of calm in their life." Safe As Houses is your reaction to the London bombings of 2005. What made you want to write the song?
 | | Boo Hewerdine |
"We were recording in this beautiful place near Barnsley, in the middle of a field with sheep and birds and no traffic, and we put the TV on and it was like WAH! The first thing we thought was who do we know down there, who do we need to phone, are they all alright? "There was a sense of being shell-shocked. We were supposed to be doing recording but we didn’t know where to put our feelings. Boo [Hewerdine, Eddi’s long-term writing partner] had a riff, which he started to play, and we built a melody on top of it, the drummer joined in and soon we were communicating a song. "Later on, we finished off the lyrics and realised it was about the fact that whoever it was that you cared about or didn’t care about, even if they were someone you were divorcing or someone who’d ripped you off, you were still concerned for their safety." The album is your usual mix of traditional and contemporary songs. How do you choose what to include?
 | | Eddi in performance |
"There’s no conscious decision. If I look back at the process, I can see how driven I am at changing lines and melodies, fixing this, moving that, but I do it with such unconscious regard that when I come out of it and get back to being mum, getting the shelves up, going to IKEA and trying to fix the storage problem in my house sorted, I can’t really remember how I did it. I like that because it doesn’t feel like my ego is involved. "Also, I don’t do labels. I don’t do a jazz song or a folk song or one that was written yesterday or one that was written 300 years ago. I tend to just encounter situations and then the songs come to me. It’ll come out of me or a collaboration or a song that my granny used to sing to me. So it’s all very instinctive." You worked with Boo on this album and also the multi-talented John McCusker produced and played on it. How important are the pair to your music? "I feel like I’ve found people that really understand how I work and that’s a massive miracle in itself. I feel like they really get me. I mean, they get a lot of people because they’re very smart individuals, so it’s great to be in their company. | "When I’m 80 and have a beard, I want to sing something into someone’s ear and have them as thrilled as I was because I’ve been floating ever since." | | Eddi Reader on how inspiring it is to be serenaded by Willie Nelson |
"They enjoy my process and a lot of people would get frustrated by me because I’m not very clear about what I need. It’s like feeling for a colour in the dark. I become attuned to the feeling behind the song and then hopefully the chords come out, rather than me saying it’s a D flat or whatever. I don’t want to talk that sort of language. It’s far too mathematical for me. I use layman’s language, but they completely understand." Do you still have the same passion for music? "Absolutely. It’s completely saved my life! I can’t imagine not having the ability to put an iPod on and put on a beautiful tune I’ve just heard, like Vashti Bunyan or Joan As Policewoman, and just luxuriating in it. I am quite fickle though. Each one only lasts about a month and then I’m onto something else." You’ve just been in Manchester, playing with Willie Nelson. What was he like? "He sang Moonlight In Vermont into my ear, because I told him I really loved it. He never played it live, but he sung it for me and I felt the softness of his beard against my cheek, because we were hugging each other.
 | | Willie Nelson |
"I just got a real sense of how I’ve missed the boat with this man. It looked to me like he’s lived many, many lifetimes and that’s inspiring. I want to live many, many lifetimes. When I’m 80 and have a beard, I want to sing something into someone’s ear and have them as thrilled as I was because I’ve been floating ever since he did it." You received an MBE last year for your services to music. How did that feel? "I was totally surprised. It wasn’t in my scope of reference. I had no idea that the Queen or anyone associated with the Queen would know anything about what I do. "But I’ve got an honourary degree this year from Strathclyde University and in a way, that’s almost more important, because I’m getting this thing that says I actually know what I’m doing when I don’t think I do. "It’s great to have anyone say that you’re great, because I just did what I love doing. It’s a wonderful feeling when anyone tells you they really love what you’re doing because I really believe them. When someone tells me this is their favourite song or they got married to that tune or something; that really gets to me. I’m a real wimp when I’m told that, because I feel like everything is right." | 
