Chaimbeul sings beautifully but is best known for playing the Scottish smallpipes. These are ‘cauld wind’, blown by bellows rather than the player’s breath, with a chanter playing the melody and three more pipes providing constant single notes, the drones. These are, for Chaimbeul, crucial. “I definitely wanted that big drone sound. I wanted a bit more bass as well.” Chaimbeul’s latest album, Carry Them With Us, begins with ‘Pililiù – The Call of The Redshank’ and she uncannily captures the speedy staccato peepings of the bird. “There’s a strong connection between piping, Gaelic song and birds, the language of birds,” she says. “There’s so many examples of trying to communicate, or at least imitate, the language of birds.”

But the tune opens with a long drone wandering in pitch; the melody, rather than simply beginning, emerges. “The drones are out of tune, you’re hearing the slow tuning,” she explains. “Then, when they come into tune it’s such a sweet sound. Then you go into the most beautiful melody.” For Chaimbeul, drones are far more than textural background; throughout Carry Them With Us, they are prominent. “As the player, the drones are, obviously, right next to your ear, so that’s what I’m hearing. Whatever tune I choose has to sound as one with the drones and that’s why I often pick tunes that are really repetitive. I just want to be led by that drone.”

Bagpipe players have long understood the drone’s power. Now the rest of the musical world is catching up. “Jacob Collier has been talking about that. It’s coming into the contemporary classical world. There was a time when playing to the drone would have been thought of as backwards. It’s good that it’s coming to the fore.” Chaimbeul has collaborated on this new album with saxophonist Colin Stetson. Sax and smallpipes seem an unlikely pairing – but remember the success of Norwegian jazz saxophonist Jan Garbarek and British singers, the Hilliard Ensemble. Given Chaimbeul’s drone preoccupation, it makes sense.

“Colin has a style where he’s continually circular breathing. So, he creates this ongoing sound that matches really well with the pipes.” Stetson plays a baritone sax, giving a drone lower than the pipes, providing the bass Chaimbeul was seeking. Stetson is described, too, as a ‘sound explorer’. “Colin has this technique where he sings into the saxophone while playing,” Chaimbeul says. “His throat was miked so that’s an added texture.” The pipes lend themselves to the flowing repetitive tunes Chaimbeul favours. But in some, ‘Banish the Giant of Doubt & Despair’, for instance, there are also percussive sounds. “That worked out by accident,” Chaimbeul laughs. “I was playing with a metal band, so I was given a little contact mic on the chanter, one you can turn up really loud. But it was picking up my fingers as well. It was like someone step dancing because it was the exact rhythm of the tune. So, I was quite excited – I’m going have to plug this in!”

Innovative as Chaimbeul and Stetson’s approach is, six of the nine tracks on the album are traditional tunes. Chaimbeul credits four to archive recordings of pipers and singers. She talks of her father taking her to visit old storytellers and singers. It is them, and a whole culture, that Chaimbeul carries as, in her music, their tunes and songs emerge, anew.

Carry Them With Us is released by tak:til/Glitterbeat and available here