In a music industry rife with singer/songwriters wearing hackneyed hearts on threadbare sleeves, one can’t help but feel Bangor’s Iain Archer is that ever-elusive “real thing”.

A songwriter of rare elegance, Archer’s latest record has a hushed, intuitive sound – the result of a burst of recording that saw its author laying down new tracks as they were written.

“The record was made by accident in some ways,” says Archer of the series of sessions that have the kind of “return to nature” backstory you couldn’t write.

Archer travelled to a bungalow owned by his father-in-law in Germany’s Rhine Valley near the Black Forest, where he began work on To The Pine Roots.

“It’s an absolutely beautiful place, with rolling, tree-clad hills,” says Archer. “As I wrote the songs I would document them and I realised they were the definitive recordings – they seemed to have the magic, where you can hear the performance, the atmosphere and the spontaneity.”

Featuring little more than his intricate guitar work and his rich, resolutely Northern Irish vocal, the record is Archer’s third since he found himself in the eye of the fame hurricane as a co-writer on Snow Patrol’s breakthrough album The Final Straw.

The album, and its lead single Run, brought the band unprecedented success after years of graft and opened doors for this most modest of writers that hadn’t been opened before.

“[Snow Patrol’s success] was quite unexpected and wonderful, without question. To see something you’ve been involved in explode in that way was extremely exciting and I can’t complain about that.

“But I guess in some ways it becomes the be all and end all for some people and that can be the stranger side of it.”

Archer was also involved with Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody on the criminally overlooked The Reindeer Section – the Scottish indie supergroup that also included members of Belle And Sebastian, Mogwai, Teenage Fanclub and Idlewild. He says another record with the project would be “wild”, but says Snow Patrol’s demanding schedule could make it unlikely.

After his time with The Reindeer Section and Snow Patrol, Archer made a volte-face with the compelling, introverted Flood The Tanks and then went on to record the more expansive Magnetic North.

This time around he says he is thrilled to be taking his new, self-produced record out on the road in support of fellow Bangor songwriter Foy Vance.

“It’s gone really well so far,” says Archer. “A number of the dates have sold out and we’ve had a great time. The crowds have been unnervingly attentive.”

His next stop in Brighton will be as part of the Great Escape – his first time at the festival – when he plays the Red Roaster on Thursday, May 14.

“It’s the first festival of the season, so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s been great because the live thing has started to build up very gently.

I’ve just been trying to find the right shows and letting people know I’m out there again.”

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