Hailing from a family of writers and storytellers in the Scottish Hebrides on the Isle of Mull, 25 years ago Colin MacIntyre "borrowed" his local historical society's moniker and, well, it stuck. Since then, Colin has emerged as a multi-award-winning songwriter, musician, producer, author, playwright and educator. He has released 10
albums and published 5 novels. He has been described as 'One of the best British songwriters to emerge this century' by Rolling Stone Magazine, and 'One of my favourite songwriters of all time', by Irvine Welsh.
He releases under the moniker Mull Historical Society and, to date, has achieved two gold-selling albums, six Top 40 hits and two Top 20 Albums, and many awards, such as Scotland's Top Creative Talent Award at the Glenfiddich Awards. Alongside his career in music, Colin is an acclaimed author in his own right and his debut novel, 'The Letters of Ivor Punch', received the Edinburgh Book Festival First Book Award, which he adapted as a sold-out stage play, and a memoir and children's books have followed.
During the frenetic first phase of his career as MHS, MacIntyre took his songwriting junkie-meets-Mull's-local-hero-status worldwide, performing and releasing across the globe and touring with R.E.M., Annie Lennox, Elbow, and The Strokes, whilst also appearing on Later... With Jools Holland, MTV, The Jonathan Ross Show and across the media board, releasing 8 albums and publishing 3 books between 2001-2018.
In 2023 he reissued his first 3 MHS albums 'Loss', 'Us' & 'This Is Hope', before later that year releasing his sensational most recent album 'In My Mind There's A Room', a critical and commercial success that heralded an exciting "new-format" collaboration with world-leading authors, with the release accompanied by widespread appearances at literary festivals and venues nationwide.
Feeling galvanised by this new-format, Colin is back in 2026 with a new album, 'In My Mind There's A Photograph' - a record that enlists a litany of world-leading minds from the literary world for one of his most creative and inspiring projects yet.
Featuring lyrical contributions from world-leading authors on a single significant photo to them, Colin playing the 'Elton to their Bernie'. They are best-sellers, Pulitzer, Booker, Women's Prize & Saltire Award-winners: Irvine Welsh, Ali Smith, Len Pennie, Alexander McCall Smith, Jehan Bseiso, Louise Welsh, Irenosen Okojie, Paul Lynch, Colum McCann, Yiyun Lee, Alan Johnson and Dan Richards. The songs shine a light on hope, empathy and understanding, just what we need in this fractured world.
Exploring themes of childhood, place, identity, memory, family, language and more, the album spans the globe. From the horrific impact of Gaza and 9/11, to tales from Inverness to Botswana, from China to Glasgow. Colin, an award-winning author himself, allows these stories to bloom beautifully, providing a platform for the powerful lyrical content with his idiosyncratic ear for melody and score. All songs were written by Colin MacIntyre and the authors. The album was arranged and produced by Colin MacIntyre. It was recorded and mixed during Summer/Autumn 2025 at Tobermory's Bb Studios on the Isle of Mull, engineered by Gordon Maclean,
appropriately in a room that in the early 20th century once acted as a venue for music, storytelling and dancing featuring Colin's forebears. The album has notable guest spots from the London African Gospel Choir. The album cover image is a stunning, specially commissioned painting by the artist, Lola Buchanan, recently graduated from Glasgow School of Art.
And to further rubber stamp MacIntyre's renaissance-man-who-never-sleeps credentials, MacIntyre's fifth book, and the second in his Mull Mysteries Crime series, 'An Island Burning', is also out in April on Black & White Publishing/Bonnier Books. These literary and musical releases come in tandem with the launch of Colin's multi-genre musical, 'Culloden', for which he wrote the book and the music, which also goes into pre-production in 2026.
And if that wasn't enough, fans can expect a series of brand new live shows in honour of the new album (which will feature guest appearances from some of its featured authors), as well as readings from Colin from his new Mull Mysteries crime novel, plus some very special 25th anniversary shows in celebration of Mull's Gold-selling, album-of-the-year-polls-topper, 'Loss'.
A polymath with all of his creative pistons pumping; of his current streak and his hopes for the new year, Colin concludes:
"2025 was an incredibly productive year for me of making, making, making... juggling across many projects -writing and recording the album, writing my new novel, and progressing my new 'Culloden' musical - and finding connection in all the work - so 2026 is the year of sharing, sharing, sharing."
'In My Mind There's a Photograph' will be released by Mull Historical Society on vinyl/CD on 29 May (via LNFG).