It’s perhaps why she wanted to capture the cocksure energy of a Lucia & The Best Boys gig on ‘Picking Petals’. “I don't think the live show is important for every band, but it's always been really important for us,” she says. “There’s always been this element of divine femininity and empowerment [at our gigs] because onstage is where I feel the most confident and comfortable.” Travelling, meeting new people and the fact every show unfolds into a different, emotionally-charged beast offers “constant inspiration.”

While their 2023 debut ‘Burning Castles’ features tracks written across a six-year time period, ‘Picking Petals’ allowed Lucia to write about what she was experiencing in the now. Songs were crafted in remote stone shelters throughout the Scottish wilderness (AKA bothies), and recorded with Yves Rothman at Mogwai’s Glasgow-based Castle Of Doom studios. “I still feel such a connection to it. It’s the album I believe I was always supposed to make,” she says.

Creating ‘Picking Petals’ in a “bubble” meant the lyrics pulled heavily from the nature she was surrounded by, while the only outside musical references were the timeless artists Lucia had grown up worshipping – The Waterboys, Stevie Nicks. The fluid sessions saw The Best Boys (Ally Scott, Christopher Ballantyne and Adam Campbell) hopping between instruments while local friends joined them to add synths, fiddle, harp and brass to the gorgeous record. It felt less like a rigid band and more like an evolving, free-spirited collective, which inspired them to lean further into traditional Scottish and Irish music. “I just find it an extremely grounding and romantic genre that I feel deeply connected to,” says Lucia. It also let her celebrate the community that’s formed around the band, and the understanding that followed. “Trad music has always been about connecting to people and land. Making this album has done that for us,” she continues.

That sense of camaraderie also helped Lucia finally nail a track she’d been working on for years. Whimsical summer anthem ‘Big Romance’ is the oldest song on ‘Picking Petals’ and started life back when Lucia was in her early 20s. “I knew it was beautiful and had something in it that I wanted to share, but I couldn’t crack it,” so it was left off of their debut album and seemed destined for the bin.

It was The Last Dinner Party’s Abi Morris who encouraged Lucia to keep chipping away at the “hardcore romance” track. The pair had met pre-Dinner Party, with Abi spending a stint performing as part of Lucia’s live band – when an early version of ‘Big Romance’ was on the setlist.

“Getting to watch her perform back then was so inspiring to me and I learnt so much from her that I brought into [my own band],” says Abi. “Apart from being a wonderful person, Lucia is truly a star in every sense of the world. She has an awe-inspiring command of the stage and such a powerful versatile voice that embodies the emotional and visual world of her songs.”

‘Big Romance’ is a classic heartbreak song about wishing that you hadn’t left somebody, or that somebody hadn’t left you, but it’s also become a platonic love story about friendship. “I love artists who can create their own worlds, and Abi’s obviously someone who has that down to a fine art. She’s a theatrical queen,” says Lucia.

After “bugging” her for years to finish the track, Abi found the collab easy and joyful. “Lucia is also such a dedicated world builder and I feel like I understand her vision. Our visual worlds make sense in dialogue together and it feels like an extension of our friendship.”

“It’s also amazing that we can have these very deep meaningful conversations about our experiences as women in music. We’ve just had this deep understanding since we first met,” adds Lucia. “The way that Abi’s constantly lifted me up and made me feel confident, I hope other people can feel that too. I really hope this song offers people a state of freeness, rather than being buried with regret and uncertainty. Surrounding yourself with people who really let you be who you are is so important.”

“I think that beyond the lyrics, the song embodies the importance of friendship, especially female friendship in the music industry,” adds Abi. “Sometimes it can feel scary, isolating and intimidating to be a frontwoman. You worry about your worth and if people are comparing you to other women doing the same thing as you. It’s so important for female artists to support each other and build a safe community. I hope that this collaboration inspires people to do that.”

Before ‘Picking Petals’, Lucia & The Best Boys only teamed up with other artists for remixes but alongside Abi’s feature on ‘Big Romance’, CHVRCHES’ Lauren Mayberry guests on sleek synth pop banger ‘Lonely Girl’. “I only want to collaborate when it truly means something to me. I don't want to do it for the sake of doing it,” says Lucia.

‘Lonely Girl’ is a song about “finding your place in the world, and your people” so Lauren was an obvious choice. Growing up in a very isolated part of Scotland before moving to Glasgow as a teenager to pursue music, Lucia would constantly be asked about how she saw her career going if she wasn’t living in London (“I was only a few hours away on the train, it wasn’t like I was living underground.”) Hearing CHVRCHES’ ‘The Mother We Share’ on the playlist at her retail job was confirmation that she could make it work. “I’ve always looked up to Lauren. She was undeniable proof that I could succeed at what I wanted to do.”

There are plenty of tracks on ‘Picking Petals’ with sorrowful lyrics but every song has a sense of joy to it, be that defiant or fantastical. “It’s an album that’s rooted in friendship, love and connection,” says Lucia. “There are plenty of times in your life when you’re going through something heartbreaking and it feels like there won’t be a right turn. But this album feels like it could offer that much needed hope.”

Lucia & The Best Boys’ album 'Picking Petals' is out 31st July.