Being one of the music world's great creative geniuses, Mark Linkous should be among the happiest men alive.

Instead, he is one of the most melancholic. The man behind Sparklehorse is a singular songwriter, master of experimental Americana, respected pioneer of recording techniques and a lyricist who takes surrealism to a new level.

But he is also one of the humblest people imaginable, plagued with doubt and insecurity, and lives the life of a virtual recluse in the Appalachian Mountains of the South Eastern USA.

Fortunately for us, he is leaving his remote home/studio in North Carolina, and hitting the road for a tour to accompany his new album Dreamt For Light Years in The Belly Of A Mountain.

What many of his fans may not realise is quite how fortunate we are. For the album, recorded on vintage equipment, nearly never happened at all.

"One of the aspects of living in the South is that I isolate myself, become too much a recluse, and think too much about things," he told the Guide, speaking from his forest home.

"For three years, I totally lost my interest in recording music and became really badly depressed."

The depression wasn't helped by the veteran 1960s console he had bought.

"It took so much patching up," he explains. "I bought it from a studio in Chicago, and the guy lied about its condition. They say they don't make things like that any more, and it's true! It does sounds fantastic though."

The album features an impressive collection of guest collaborators and contributors, including a previously unreleased track with Tom Waits, and tracks with Christian Fennesz, Scott Minor, Dave Fridmann, and most significantly, friend, DJ, producer, and one-half of Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse. He adds: "I didn't think I'd make music any more. I am blown away that people still care."

Not only are we fortunate to have the album; we are lucky to have Mark at all. On his last trip to the UK, supporting Oxford's Radiohead and promoting his incredibly-titled album w=6.3Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionploto, he overdosed on Valium, antidepressants, alcohol and, possibly heroin, in a London hotel.

The incident nearly killed him and he came close to having his legs amputated. He remained in hospital for weeks.

But the ordeal has not curbed his enthusiasm for England. Quite the opposite, as he explains: "I miss London. I miss the smell - it has its own smell, like New York.

"I don't think I'd have been treated as well anywhere else in the world, as I was at St Mary's Hospital. The sisters were compassionate. It was beyond their job. I even used to see one of them at my gigs."

Mark's stay at the hospital inspired his song St Mary.

On September 29, Mark arrives at the Zodiac. He says he is looking forward to returning - not for the city's architecture or even cultural life, which left him with fond memories.

It's the fact he was able to have a good wash - at the home of friend and Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood.

"I badly needed a shower," he recalls. "But all I really saw was the Zodiac and Colin's apartment."

His forthcoming visit also sees Mark in a lighter, even optimistic, mood.

"I felt like an outsider for a long time," he says. "For three years I didn't do anything. I called it 'the vortex'. But I am looking forward to the tour - though I am terrified as well."

Sparklehorse plays the Zodiac, Oxford, on Friday September 29. Tickets are £13.50 in advance. Doors open at 6.30pm.