DAVID Ford is on the charge once more with his fifth studio album on the way and a tour that finds the Eastbourne singer-songwriter changing his performance mode again.

After his shows earlier this year with The Magic Numbers' Michele Stodart and JP Riuggieri, he now presents "the most audacious two-man stadium rock tour at some of the small rooms of England and Scotland" with only a drummer for company.

"Drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, all at the same time, no tricks, no loops no backing tracks. Small band: Big sound," writes Ford on his website ahead of Saturday's 8pm gig at Selby Town Hall.

No release date is mentioned for his long-promised new record, however. Entitled Animal Spirits, the album was recorded in the United States with Foo Fighters and Kings Of Leon producer James Brown. "The record has a concept to it; all about my studies in amateur macro-economics," Ford says.

"It's a personal hobby: I must have read 30 to 40 books on the subject, going from economics to macrobiology to macro-economics, which is the politics of it all.

"I never really got past the financial crash of 2007-2008, where we just let it all go and didn't talk about what happened, why it happened, and we haven't really talked about how we prevent it happening to us again as a society.

"I feel the prevailing thought among the powers-that-be is, 'let's take it back to where it was before the crash', rather than immediately trying to make changes to avoid it happening again."

Songs rooted in macro-economics are rare indeed, but Ford says: "I realise it's a subject that songs aren't normally written about, but I'm an experienced writer now and a lot of the stories are told with well-crafted metaphors. I'm very happy with it as a piece of dense songwriting on a serious matter, where hopefully I've made it accessible on one level, but there's more going on underneath to dig deeper for.

"I like to take on a topic and fight whatever battles I can with it, and for me, one of the things that's particularly troubling with economics is how ideological it is. Regardless of what evidence teaches, like religion, if you're an economic fundamentalist, you're missing the point. The truth lies somewhere in the middle, just as if you're religious fundamentalist, I don't believe that's the best position to be in."

Come the album's release, "I might do some live shows that are more dense, maybe even with supporting lectures," says Ford.

David Ford plays Selby Town Hall on Saturday (September 16), supported by Nic Bennett, 8pm. Tickets cost £15 on 01757 708449 or at selbytownhall.co.uk or £17 on the door from 7.30pm.