I got to know Paul Buchanan, the lead singer of the Blue Nile, because I quoted the lyrics from Family Life in one of my books, The Incredible Adam Spark. I bumped into him in Borders one afternoon and I said, “Oh, I’ve used your lyrics in one of my books so I probably owe you some money”. He said, ‘Just take them’, which was really something because I quoted some Queen lyrics and they charged me hundreds and hundreds of pounds.

Family Life is just my favourite song ever. It’s about a marriage breaking down and it’s the most accurate, beautiful evocation of a love gone wrong.

Usually the words “white soul music” make me run for the hills but that’s what the music of the Blue Nile feels like — it has a beautiful depth and stillness to it that doesn’t pander to fashion.

The four albums all sound uniquely of the same time, even though there is a seven-year gap or so between each one. The albums that came out in the 1980s — A Walk Across the Rooftops and Hats — belong to a sealed universe that doesn't reflect other trends in music of the time. They worked to achieve their own sound and didn’t waver from that task. All the best bands do that, they all create a sound that is uniquely theirs and it doesn’t matter what has been going on in the charts at the time.

I think Buchanan’s voice has a lot to do with that unique sound. It’s a marvellously soulful voice that conveys a real sense of longing, so when he’s singing lyrics about a broken relationship it never sounds even remotely cliched.

I came to the Blue Nile quite late, which I think is telling.

I was aware that they existed earlier but I never paid any attention to them. I think when you first listen to their music it’s difficult to get a handle on it because it seems very still. But over repeated listens you realise that it has worked its way under your skin and it’s never going to go away.

Alan Bissett will be reading at Music Like A Vitamin — Vitamin A at ABC, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, on Thursday. The event is part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, www.mhfestival.com

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