Mull Historical Society has announced its return with a new studio album scheduled for release in 2026, marking the next phase in the long-running project led by Scottish songwriter and author Colin MacIntyre. The record, In My Mind There’s A Photograph, will be released on 29 May via the LNFG label and is led by the single “Cattle Bells”, featuring words by bestselling novelist Sir Alexander “Sandy” McCall Smith.
The album follows the critical and commercial success of MacIntyre’s previous release, In My Mind There’s A Room, and continues his recent focus on interdisciplinary collaboration. This time, the concept centres on photography as a catalyst for storytelling, with each song inspired by a single significant image selected by a contributing writer.
The resulting collection brings together an unusually broad literary cast. Contributors to In My Mind There’s A Photograph include award-winning and internationally recognised authors such as Irvine Welsh, Ali Smith, Len Pennie, Jehan Bseiso, Louise Welsh, Irenosen Okojie, Paul Lynch, Colum McCann, Yiyun Lee, Alan Johnson, Dan Richards and Sir Alexander McCall Smith. Collectively, the writers represent a range of major literary honours, including the Pulitzer Prize, Booker Prize, Costa Book Awards, the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Saltire Awards.
MacIntyre, who performs under the Mull Historical Society name, has described his role as translating the writers’ reflections into song, pairing his melodic sensibility with their words. The album comprises 12 tracks, each intended to create what the artist describes as a form of “photographic realisation”, combining memory, place and emotional resonance.
The first collaboration to be released, “Cattle Bells”, draws on words by Sir Alexander McCall Smith, best known for The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. The song is set in Botswana and reflects on a photograph of the author sitting atop a hill overlooking the Kalahari, an image that also features on the single’s artwork.
The track explores themes of time, self-reflection and belonging, with a particular focus on the idea of home. Speaking about the collaboration, MacIntyre said:
“I have loved working with Sandy; he is such a generous and inspirational writer and man, and I am honoured to have this personal story from him of connection with ourselves and where we feel at home as the lead single off the album. The opening line, ’This must be me…’, with the intriguing use of the word ‘must’, strikes me as a line only a novelist could summon. I have always been inspired by Paul Simon and his Gracelands album, and this song allowed me to achieve an ambition of working with the glorious London African Gospel Choir”.
Sir Alexander McCall Smith also commented on the finished recording, saying:
“Colin has made a lovely job of capturing my words and photograph. “Cattle Bells” is a beautiful, rather haunting piece.”
“Cattle Bells” was recorded and mixed during the summer and autumn of 2025 at Bb Studios in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. The track was produced by MacIntyre, who also produced the rest of the album, and engineered by Gordon Maclean. The project’s visual presentation includes photography by Gordon Buchanan and montage work by Colin Cassells.
The album release forms part of a particularly active period for MacIntyre, who is balancing work across music, literature and theatre. In addition to the new Mull Historical Society record, 2026 will also see the publication of his fifth book, An Island Burning, the second instalment in his Mull Mysteries crime series. The novel is due for release in April via Black & White Publishing, part of Bonnier Books.
MacIntyre is also developing a new multi-genre musical, Culloden, for which he has written the script, book and music. The production is expected to enter pre-production during the first half of the year. Further ahead, the artist has indicated that plans are underway to mark the 25th anniversary of Loss, Mull Historical Society’s gold-selling debut album and a frequent fixture in album-of-the-year polls.
Live activity will accompany the release of In My Mind There’s A Photograph, with a run of new shows planned. These performances are expected to feature appearances from some of the album’s contributing authors, with further details to be announced.
Reflecting on his current creative output and the year ahead, MacIntyre said:
“2025 has been an incredibly productive year for me of making, making, making… juggling across many projects — writing and recording the album, writing my new novel, and my new ‘Culloden’ musical — and finding connection in all the work — and so 2026 is the year of sharing, sharing, sharing.”
In My Mind There’s A Photograph will be released on 29 May via LNFG, with “Cattle Bells” available now as the album’s lead single.
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