David Kilgour (far right) and the Heavy Eights (from left), Taane Tokona, Thomas Bell and Tony de Raad. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
A one-word summary of David Kilgour's current musical form might read, effortless, although that could be construed as slightly unfair, a suggestion that little thought goes into his songs.
Here's another one, then: consistent.
Actually, the list goes on, but you've probably got the idea by now.
Kilgour's latest album, Left by Soft, arrives on Monday, almost two years to the day since the release of Falling Debris, a collaboration with poet Sam Hunt that also, importantly, employed the sympathetic approach of his Dunedin group, the Heavy Eights.
Comprising Tony de Raad (guitar, keyboards), Taane Tokona (drums, percussion) and Thomas Bell (bass, keyboards), the Heavy Eights line-up might be less celebrated than Kilgour's other band, The Clean, yet it has provided the songwriter, singer and guitarist with a restrained, subtly dynamic vehicle over the years.
As Kilgour continues to fuse songwriting nous to dexterous instrumental instinct so, too, have his mates; without fuss yet focused, they walk the line between understatement and attention to detail.
Or as Kilgour laconically puts it: "It's just pop music, really."
The intent of Left by Soft was to capture the sound of a band playing live, a warts-and-all approach that favoured energy and nuance over perfection.
Thus the band members packed themselves off to a Catlins lodge for a week.
"I've always liked to go on location and record in different spots, to get out of the usual studio situation," Kilgour says.
"It was also about getting everyone in the same spot for a long period of time.
"That was the main thing, really - to get everyone focused for six days. No-one was going anywhere; there was no cellphone coverage, no TV, no internet ... that was the idea. Whether it informed the sound of the record, who knows?
"We had fantastic weather and it was in the Catlins so there was a beach which was a 10-minute walk away. It was kind of relaxed but, at the same time, there was a job to do. No matter how you do it, there is always pressure on to deliver.
"This one did feel like a band album.
"With The Far Now, we recorded all over the place at different sessions. The Far Now was a collection for styles, really, quite a bit of home stuff, or stuff I did on my own.
"With this album, the main thing was we just wanted the band to play all the music, to cut it live, to make a band album.
We've been playing together for a long time now," Kilgour says.
A few days later, he fires off an email in which he stresses the remaining members of the group have always had "a lot of say" in the making of the music.
He also points out that though the Heavy Eights line-up has remained relatively stable in recent years, it has featured a large roster of people, including Noel Ward, Alan Haig, Johannes Contag, Heath Te Au, Nick Roughan, Robert Key, Anji Sami and Alan Starrett.
"The list goes on . . ." he muses.
Without doubt, Bell is an influential member, bouncing between bass and keyboards to record and produce then later mix and master Left by Soft.
And is Kilgour happy with the result?
"Yeah, I like it. I definitely wouldn't put it out if I didn't like it. It's not abrasive or threatening. I don't know ...
"I see the records as time capsules for myself. I finally got to record Way Down Here. That's an old song. I always wanted to get a band version of it but hadn't managed to.
"We listened to this album for about a year; we didn't mix it until about six months after we recorded.
"That is a bit of a first for me. Usually, I can't wait to get them out."
Though Kilgour offers a typically laid-back excuse for the delay between recording and release ("There was, really, no rush ..."), it perhaps had something to do with the buzz of activity in 2009, which began with his collaboration with Hunt and finished with a new album from The Clean, Mister Pop.
He's also had a busy past year with The Clean, which toured Europe at the start of 2010 before heading to the United States in August, then to Australia earlier this year.
Asked if the boundaries between his various projects were becoming increasingly blurry, Kilgour points to the differing dynamics and personalities within each setup.
"I don't have a problem with it because, mainly, when The Clean things come along they are largely unplanned; we might get together for a show or whatever and I tend to just deal with that as it comes along. I don't sit at home and write things and think, `Oh, that's for The Clean'. I don't do it like that.
"When The Clean are together, we are very critical of what we are bringing along because we don't really want to make another Bats song," he says in reference to fellow member Robert Scott*. "Or we don't want another David Kilgour solo-type song.
"Perhaps as the years go on, it is increasingly blurry: is this a Clean song or a Bob and David album?" he laughs.
"At the end of the day, it pays not to think too much about these things."
Kilgour and the Heavy Eights next week embark on a short national tour that includes a gig at Dunedin's Empire Tavern, a venue with which the performer is well acquainted.
"We used to play there a lot in the early '80s with The Clean."
Kilgour recalls the last time he played there was in the late '90s, The Clean performing a cameo for Robert and Duncan Sarkies' 1999 film Scarfies. As for his plans post-tour, they are as murky as the grey waves he sometimes surfs on the Otago coastline (though not in winter any more: "I've cut back on that ...").
"The Clean might do something. We might finish some recordings we started, but we're not sure.
"We are still trying to do some shows in America, but other than that, I've got no plans. It might be a lazy winter."
*Robert Scott is a founding member of The Bats, which formed in 1982.
The Clean formed in 1978; Scott joined David Kilgour and his brother, Hamish, in 1980, the trio going on to release 1981 single Tally Ho. Recorded for $50, the song reached No 19 in the New Zealand charts. Put out by Flying Nun, Tally Ho was only the independent label's second release.
The group's subsequent EP, Boodle Boodle Boodle, spent six months in the charts, peaking at No 5 in 1981.
• David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights celebrate the release of Left by Soft with a gig at the Empire Tavern, Dunedin, on Saturday, May 7, featuring special guests including Alistair Galbraith.
