Earlier this month, esteemed multi-instrumentalist Meg Duffy released her debut album under the name Hand Habits, after several years of steady touring and recording with other artists. Known to many as the six-stringed anchor of Kevin Morby's live band, and as a member of Erin Birgy's experimental collective Mega Bog, Duffy has continuously emerged as a constant and compelling figure within today's indie landscape.

The album, Wildly Idle (Humble Before the Void), is a dreamy, lo-fi song cycle, written and recorded while in the process of moving from New York to Los Angeles, and its release on Woodsist represents the project's true beginnings as a focused and ongoing musical concern. On the eve of its release, we sent some questions over to Meg to find out a little more about the writing and recording process for the album, her ongoing collaborations with both Kevin Morby and Mega Bog, and her forthcoming plans for 2017.

With Wildy Idle (Humble Before the Void) coming out this week, and your joint tour with John Andrews & the Yawns kicking off on the same day, how are you feeling at the start of what must be an incredibly exciting time for Hand Habits?

I feel great! It's been a long time coming, and I've been psychically preparing for a while now.

Early Hand Habits incarnations have featured a full live band during performances. Have you assembled a similar backing band to tour behind Wildy Idle or will you be playing the new material as a solo act?

Definitely not similar to the past. [There's] very little aggression/rock indulgence and much more intention. I'm currently touring as a three piece: bass, drums and myself. We are a very quiet band.

How would you compare Wildly Idle to your previous Hand Habits releases?

I'm not sure how to compare them. My past releases - aside from the instrumentals and [the 2015 EP] This Sounds Nothing Like Tonight - feel very juvenile; like the songs of someone who was not sure of themselves, [and] therefore relying on others for taste and curation calls. This Sounds Nothing Like Tonight was my first glimpse of myself; knowing that I was capable of creating something completely on my own and feeling close to it. For the instrumentals, my vocabulary is always expanding.

The album was recorded in separate rooms in both New York and California. Did the process of moving cities, and making such a significant change in your life, affect the overall writing, sound and shape of these songs?

Absolutely. I was feeling the newness of Los Angeles, and the isolation that came with it. I slowed down in every way. I took more time to do things and trusted in exploration. I met a few very crucial people in the first couple of months who filled me with perspective shifts.

Who, or what, were your primary influences during the writing and recording process?

My bedroom, [LA-based artist] Robbie Simon, the slowness I mentioned, my partner at the time, Linda McCartney, and sharing a bathroom.

Who else did you collaborate with during the recording of the album?

[Quilt's] Keven Lareau, Mallory Watje, [Avi Buffalo drummer] Sheridan Riley - who is always blowing my mind musically, and who I feel constantly inspired by, however brief and infrequent we get to engage musically - Jeff Bailey, Avi Buffalo, and M.Geddes Gengras who mixed the record.

What are your favourite tracks on the album?

Hm. Probably "Book on How to Change" or "Sun Beholds Me".

I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about the ambient, almost spoken-word interludes that appear throughout - "Greater LA (scene)", "Cowboy (scene)" and "Time Hole (scene)". What are their significance in terms of the overall sequencing and narrative of Wildly Idle?

The music for those scenes are chopped from a 48-minute long exploration between two guitars and synth that Avi Zahner-Isenberg [Avi Buffalo] and I recorded at my house. We thought of it as 'Endurance Improv', and the goal was to push each other, and learn from each other, within the freeness of experimentation.

The poems, which I also loosely edited to bring the listening experience closer to the listener, are three of my favourite poets and friends: Catherine Pond wrote "Cowboy", Kayla Ephros wrote "Greater LA", and Lucy Blagg wrote "Time Hole". It felt crucial to have a wide range of sonic stimulation, including some aspect of spoken word/non-planned music. I respect my friends in the literary world, and I always feel in a state of awe when watching them perform, or read, in a world I don't have a concrete handle on.

You've noted previously that there was no deadline in finishing the album for Woodsist Records. How long did the writing and recording process take overall?

About seven months, mostly because I was also touring pretty extensively with Kevin [Morby] at the time of tracking.