One of the most beloved Scottish albums of the past decade was 2008’s sophomore effort from Falkirk's Frightened Rabbit, titled The Midnight Organ Fight. The album, based solely on vocalist and songwriter Scott Hutchison's trials with a girlfriend, provided a sense of euphoria missing from break-up albums, so much so that contemplating suicide has never sounded sweeter.

As a result, the album catapulted the band into the top tier of Scottish independent rock, leading to support tours with Biffy Clyro, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie and a host of others.

Yet, no matter how successful the album was, Hutchison and company knew they would have to return with a follow-up, and it would have to be just as clever, mature and genre-bridging. To do so, Hutchison decided to evade the city for a month and shack up in a cottage in Pencaitland, on the eastern coast of Scotland to write Frightened Rabbit's third album alone. After emerging with a dozen-odd new songs, he returned to Edinburgh to record them, now cumulatively referred to as The Winter Of Mixed Drinks.

"The album was recorded in June in a studio called Castlesound, situated in a village called Pencaitland, near Edinburgh," explains Hutchison. "We wanted to stay in Scotland to do the record, primarily because we had been on tour so much and had no desire to leave home again for a month. Plus, the studio also has a lovely sense of isolation, a removal from the city. It was an atmosphere that was important to the conception of the record as well as the execution.

This time, Hutchison has not written a break-up album. Instead, he emerged from his self-styled isolation with an album full of songs about, well, isolation. "The album does have a fairly resonant sense of isolation and of the desire to escape," recalls the songwriter. "Also, there is a strong nautical theme in some of the tracks. There's a bit of joy and happiness on there too, which is new to us, to be honest."

Most importantly, once again Frightened Rabbit have a strong set of songs in tow, as The Winter Of Mixed Drinks picks up where both The Midnight Organ Fight and debut Sing The Greys left off. Lyrically Hutchison writes thoughtful, rich prose, pairing each stanza together with simple, chord-heavy folk rock. There are Scottish heroes of old acting as influences here, such as The Proclaimers and Arab Strap, but inasmuch as Hutchison writes music that harks back to previous legends, The Winter Of Mixed Drinks sounds decidedly like Frightened Rabbit.

"We took three weeks to track the album this time around, which proved to be ample time," adds Hutchison. "But there were challenges, that were different this time around, as it was less about the task of merely getting it done and more to do with getting it done just right. There was a lot more considered decision making this time round, which is both a good and bad thing, as the minutiae of recording can drive you round the bend. Saying that, I felt the pressure somewhat more than in the past, though that was one of the reasons for writing and recording in fairly remote places, as it is easier to forget about the fact that anyone else will hear the music at all. Pressure, when used in the right way, can actually be a help rather than a hindrance. It can push you to be better, which is ultimately a positive thing."

Since the album sees light of day early this month, to date the band has satiated fans with two singles, early bouncer 'Swim Until You Can't See Land' and newcomer, 'Nothing Like You'. Neither could be referred to as lyrically uplifting tracks, as Hutchison's sly self-deprecating and clever wordplay sings true throughout, but both showcase an upbeat, fresher Frightened Rabbit, a trait that remains consistent throughout The Winter Of Mixed Drinks. And while the sound is louder, slightly rockier, the arrangements on the album are more concise.

This is due to Hutchison and the band's practice of layering sound until the studio product is significantly different to the live show. "To me, it is not a live sounding record at all, and purposely so," adds Hutchison. "For this record we concentrated on simply making it sound great, rather than considering how we may or may not recreate any of it live. We may well make more 'live' sounding records in future, but this one was never going to be that way. This one is heavily layered."

To celebrate the release, Frightened Rabbit are playing their largest headlining UK show to date at KOKO. It will be the highlight of a ten date UK tour. While the songs have yet to be rehearsed and Hutchison is hush about what to expect at the shows, he promises surprises. "I can't tell you what the next tour will sound like, as we've not started rehearsing most of the new songs yet, so I don't know where we might take them as yet. As ever, the live experience ought to be slightly different from the record. And for KOKO, I'll be riding a unicorn through the venue to the stage, playing a guitar shaped like a broadsword. I promise."

Frightened Rabbit play KOKO on 10 March