THE genesis of Ross and Ali’s second album as a duo, Symbiosis II, was somewhat shorter than that of their debut offering.

As childhood friends from the Vale of Atholl pipe band, Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton had several years to compile the tunes that made the first Symbiosis album such an unexpected joy. It wasn’t the fact it was so good that made Symbiosis unexpected, it was the fact that it was such a gentle, personal offering from two of Scottish folk’s biggest personalities.

The second album from the pair is perhaps more of what fans would have expected from the first – big soundscapes, driving pipe tunes – but that’s not to say it doesn’t retain that element of surprise.

And while one might imagine that after having most of a lifetime to prepare the tunes on that first album, a quickfire second would prove a difficult task that, according to Hutton, was not the case.

“On the last album we kind of miraculously remembered things we’d been mucking about with for years,” says Hutton. “But this album was very different. For a start, to help fund the album we asked people if they’d like us to write tunes for them, so there’s quite a few tunes on Symbiosis II that are actually commissions.

“We wanted to keep with having mostly self-penned music and we thought that was a nice way of carrying that on and involving people who had enjoyed the first album.

“It was quite amazing that people got in touch as soon as we announced it on our Facebook page. It was a nice way to start the album and to give myself and Ross a boost.”

And despite there being little time between the two albums, the experience of writing the first allowed the pair to ease back into the creative process relatively smoothly. I think because of the first one it made the process of this one easier,” explains Hutton.

“We knew how we were going to go about it.

“For the last one we sat down and talked about what we were going to do and then on the first day of recording it wasn’t as obvious as we’d thought.

“This time, we started off with the intention of it being a similar album to the first one and then halfway through that changed.”

The reason for the change in approach came about as a result of some full-band shows that were a departure from the more usual live gigs the pair do as a trio alongside guitarist Jenn Butterworth.

“We realised how much we were enjoying that bigger sound so we decided to throw everything at it and that’s why it has turned out the way it has.”

However, it was not just those few full-band gigs that saw a departure from the more paired back aesthetic of Symbiosis. There were also influences at play way beyond the sphere of traditional music. Those influences can be heard with the use of synthesisers and samples which is a departure from the first album which, as Hutton explains “began with just myself and Ross sitting down with a variety of instruments”.

“It is something that reflects what we have been listening to and I think that the sound of this album shows that we’ve been listening to particular bands and genres.

“Duncan Lyall – who played on the last album on bass – has recently been doing a lot of stuff with synths and Moogs so we decided that rather than chop and change between sounds that we’d use the Moog and the synth and have that as the sound throughout the album.

“We were also very keen also not to have the standard drum-kit-over-a-folk-band type of sound which can be quite generic at times.”

The panoramic soundscapes this approach creates on Symbiosis II is a sea change from the first album and was inspired, at least partly, by Hutton’s love of Icelandic avant-garde outfit Sigur Ros.

“I alway enjoy listening to Sigur Ros – big, epic ethereal music. They’ve been an inspiration to me for a long while now. It’s their whole approach to making music and how their music relates to their culture and landscape. I’ve always thought music should have a relationship to your background and where you’re from and they as a band really capture that.

“They use a lot of visuals at their gigs but you can close your eyes and still get exactly where they’re from and what they’re suggesting. It tells the story.”

And while Hutton admits to loving the intimacy of the first album, he is excited about returning to the road with the duo’s new offering.

“Doing these new sets as a trio is a challenge but we really enjoy playing the slower more chilled out stuff which makes it a more personal gig. It’s a nice vibe having that connection, playing simple slow tunes and playing music as it is and that’s what the first album was all about. This one is much more a full-band affair.”

That full band experience will be heading for the Drygate in Glasgow on April 28 as the pair officially launch Symbiosis II.

They will be joined again by Butterworth but also an entire string section led by Patsy Reid, Lyall on synths and Moog, Martin O’Neill on bodhran, Steven Byrnes on drums and even, harking back to the pair’s pipe band roots, side drummer Gus Sicard.

“It’s going to be a great night. Hopefully this will be the beginning of us doing more gigs as a full band,” says Hutton.

“We’ve kind of released this at the wrong time to get bookings for full-band gigs in the summer but we have some time in October where we’re hoping to do a short run with the band. I think next year we’ll really be going for it.”

And after that are the pair planning a Symbiosis III?

“We’ve got a few ideas for albums and since we’ve doing gigs as a trio we’re possibly going to do an EP of songs, rather than tunes, that we’ve been doing while on tour.

“We’re always creating and writing new music so I think that’s the big thing, just carrying on with that.”

Ross and Ali play Drygate on April 28 with support from Project Smok. Symbiois II is released on April 20