WHILE Kris Drever has largely concentrated on pursuing collaborative projects in recent years, this relaxed solo evening, featuring just an amp and a couple of guitars for company, is a reminder that his best work has been done without any outside help.

Aside from a couple of songs stemming from his partnership with the band members of Lau, most of the focus is on his own compositions — some familiar, some not so well known.

The strongest self-penned moments come in the form of two lesser-heard songs in the second half of the set.

The ballad Scapa Flow 1919 commemorates the 100th anniversary of the scuttling of the German fleet in June that year, while Scatterseed contemplates the wonders of the dandelion.

It was written as part of a project arising out of Robert McFarlane’s poetry book Lost Words, which reflects on the many entries that have been dropped from the Oxford Junior Dictionary.

Both benefit immeasurably from Drever’s mournful yet hopeful voice — Scatterseed, in particular, from his melancholic and nostalgic undertones in praise of “the sun of the grass.”

There are more familiar moments, including Beads and Feathers and Harvest Gypsies — both delivered in nicely understated acoustic fashion — plus renditions on electric guitar of other favourites such as Steel and Stone.

Yet plugged or unplugged, each song is a gentle and contemplative offering. With his feet gently tapping the beat, it’s as if we’re watching Drever working up the songs for the first time in his bedroom.

Aside from an unhealthy obsession with tuning his instruments, something that at least seems to be born from a perfectionist streak rather than the nervous tick it is for most folk musicians, Drever is as entertaining between songs as he is during them.

With a sense of humour as quiet and subtle as his guitar playing, allied to observations that are caustic without straying into cynicism, it’s hard not to be drawn into Drever’s way of thinking. While it’s pleasing that he teams up with many others, let’s hope that over the next couple of years his attention can return to his own material.