C Duncan on how he came out on his new album

On his newly released third album Health he has left behind the bedroom where he famously produced his first two, to work with other producers, engineers and musicians for the first time.

But that is not all that has changed.

For the first time, nine years since coming out to family and close friends, he has decided to write directly about his experiences as a gay man and that means not, as he puts it, being like Elton John and being honest about his sexuality.

No avoiding gender-specific pronouns, no ambiguity, no gender-neutrality.

The son of two classical musicians with a degree in composition from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow – the 'C' is for Christopher – did not openly come out until he was 20.

The composer, whose work has been performed on BBC Radio 3, built up the courage after getting drunk in a gay bar in Glasgow with some friends. He then told his mother and father Janina and Mark over dinner a couple of nights later.

"It was fine, actually, any concern is more in your head than it should be. A lot of families are very supportive and my parents are very liberal and they were absolutely fine with it. It is still a funny thing to have to do because of the years of nerves before you do it.

"Before that you try to be something you are not. You kind of have a switch that goes on and off, certainly for me, but I now know exactly who I am."

The classically-trained pianist and violist who discovered his love for rock and pop dabbling in bands while at school admits, however, that this openness to family and friends did not translate into his recordings, until now.

"In the past I was trying to make my music gender-neutral in that I wouldn't say ‘he’ or ‘she’, it was always ‘them’, or not even talking about it at all, just avoiding pronouns entirely, " he explained.

"Gay alternative musicians are not that common, so I hope I can add to the group that are already there.

"There were people that I looked up to but looking back I couldn't think of any 'pop' artists that I was listening to that I was aware were gay. Maybe I was listening to the wrong stuff.

"There are lots around, but none spoke to me. It is not a sob story. A lot of the music I was listening to like Bjork was blatantly talking about boyfriends or husbands.

"I started listening to John Grant and he is so open about his sexuality. It is something that spoke to me, and I thought I would do it too."

Health, produced by Elbow's Craig Potter, explores themes of love, anxiety and sexuality; a deeply personal record that delves into a world Duncan had previously felt uneasy exploring.

Written around the time of the anti-gay purges in Chechnya, He Came From The Sun, from Health, sees Duncan contemplate his life and experience of coming out for the first time.

“The character depicted in the song is almost a martyr-like figure who symbolises the ongoing fight for gay rights, and the activists who do so. Chechnya was a stark reminder of how warped and brutal the world can still be," he said..

"It is my first song [about being gay]. It was the first time I put those feelings into a song. Which I am very happy about.  It was only when I got finished, that I thought, that's the first time.

"It was cathartic; it was really good. It is nice not hiding behind anything.

"Since finishing the second album and finishing this one, it became more and more important to include pronouns in my music, and why not? It makes it more relatable and that's why I wanted to do it."

Duncan, who was born in Glasgow and raised in Drymen on the east shore of Loch Lomond, indicated that he would like to help other gay men or women through his music.

"It is just about knowing that there is someone else writing music who is also gay and will talk about [he laughs] – going back to pronouns again – things like pronouns in love songs.

"It always takes me back to the Elton John thing of singing songs about 'her' and 'she' and he is blatantly and always been so over the top homosexual. But in his songs, he is singing them to a woman.

"I guess it is relatable for a lot of people, but I like the idea of having 'he' for 'he' and 'she' for 'she'."

Another song Impossible, talks about his current relationship with his partner and how difficult it was to communicate with him a year-and-a-half ago when he was working night shifts in Dunfermline for Amazon while he was in Glasgow engulfed in his music.

"Our lives were totally out of sync, living in two separate places, it took a bit of getting used to," he explains.

But was it impossible?

"It felt impossible, but it wasn't because we are still together then. It obviously wasn't impossible at all [he laughs], so yes the song is a total lie."

His confident approach has allowed him to become more lyrically aware on Health.

"Because the lyrics weren't at the forefront I didn't see it as important, I guess. I had more of an overall sound for the previous albums. For me, it was more of the sound that I wanted rather than a blatant straightforward 'here are the lyrics kind of thing'.

"So I wanted to think about the lyrics more for this record, not because it was an afterthought in the past, but words was where I was lacking confidence, because I wasn't at the time a natural wordsmith.

"With this record, because I have built confidence just through doing it, it became more and more important. I was able to put more of what I wanted into the lyrics and make it clear for people to hear."

His mother and father both play on the album and he hopes that he can have them on stage with him when he plays Maryhill Community Hall in Glasgow, flanked by a four-piece band, on May 11.

"I always wanted to get them involved, because they are great musicians and I thought it would be so much fun to have them on the record. It's something I haven't pushed at all, but they have always joked, that if I need any strings, or need strings on stage, they said to let them know.

"And I just thought, yeah, I will take them up on their offer. It is so different to what they were used to and they just loved that. "

But Duncan,who once won a music scholarship to the Glenalmond College boarding school in Perth, has not forgotten his classical roots, and says he could be persuaded to record an album. Meanwhile, he says, a "fourth, fifth and sixth" pop album is definitely on his agenda.