Clever, twee and always catchy, Zoey Van Goey have a gentle beauty about their music. It’s very reminiscent of early Belle and Sebastian, the mix of girl/boy vocals and light-footed, catchy pop tunes never failing to put a smile on your face. Forming in Glasgow, the band are from everywhere, but Hinterland is still something of a homecoming. We spoke to Matt Brennan from the band.

How did you form?
I met Michael John walking on University Avenue just after I moved to Glasgow. He was chatting to a mutual friend about how he was looking for a drummer, and I happened to play drums. Eventually he took me to an open mic night at Nice 'n' Sleazy, which is where I met his friend Kim. The three of us have spent a lot of time together since then.

You've been around for two years but haven't released much, how come?
We've been working hard trying to make our first album the best we could possibly make. We're all really happy with how it sounds, so we feel the time taken has paid off.

Have you worked with Stuart Murdoch again?
Bizarrely, just last weekend we ended up modeling some t-shirts for Belle and Sebastian's merchandise catalogue, which was a bit unusual and probably not the kind of work you meant! If you're talking about musical work, Stuart has a project called God Help The Girl with an album coming out in June, and Kim recorded some backing vocals for that.

How does your new single compare to your first?
Each single has been a bit more bonkers than the previous one. Our forthcoming single, which will be released as a video as well as being on the album, is called 'We Don't Have That Kind Of Bread.' some people have called it a cross between Bobby McFerrin and early R.E.M. Make of that what you will.

How was it working with the National Theatre of Scotland? Can you explain the project?
We wrote and performed music with a composer named David Paul Jones for a stage adaption of the Takeshi Kitano film 'Dolls.' The band performed on stage every night and Kim also jumped into the narrative of the play at one point, playing the role of a pop star who gets involved with her stalker fan. It was an amazing experience and we would love to do something like it again.

Any news on a forthcoming album?
We're launching our debut album, 'The Cage Was Unlocked All Along', on May 9th at Stereo in Glasgow with support from our friends Second Hand Marching Band and Endor.

Can you describe yourselves in five words?
Pure pop for now people.

What's planned for this year?
Apart from the album release and launch party, we'll be touring the UK in May and June, and after that starting all over again by writing songs for album number two.

Zoey Van Goey will be playing Hinterland Festival.