SINGER-songwriter Jon Gomm has notched up a hat-trick of good news.

The Saltaire-based musician has announced a new album, record deal and details of his UK and Ireland tour.

The acoustic guitar virtuoso’s new album is called The Faintest Idea and is due for release on Kscope on October 16

Jon found fame with a previous single Passionflower in 2012 which racked up millions of views of YouTube and other media platforms - Stephen Fry described him on mainstream television as someone “playing the guitar in a way I’d never seen it played before” and “an all-round genius”.

“I didn’t realise that my songs were worth anything beyond the crazy guitar playing,” said the songwriter, who originally started out on ukulele at the age of two.

“When people started getting my lyrics tattooed on them, I had to accept that they’re not doing that because they’re fans of percussive guitar.”

Passionflower featured on the Blackpool-born singer-songwriter’s 2003 home-recorded debut, Hypertension, and his follow-up album Secrets Nobody Keeps arrived in 2013, cementing his stature as one of the driving forces behind the revolutionary style.

He has now signed a label deal for the very first time in his career.

According to publicity for the album "he’s managed to truly refine the pop sensibilities and emotive expression within that unmistakable wall of sound. With this new album he has found new emotional depths in immense melodic pop landscapes".

Critics say that as one of the pioneers of the modern fingerstyle sound, Jon has a rare gift for turning one instrument into what feels like an entire orchestra.

The Faintest Idea features synth parts and production work from Australian musician Andy Sorenson.

“Andy has taken my raw, intimate solo acoustic performances, and placed them in an artificially expanded landscape of his own creation," said Jon.

"I feel like I’m playing a gig, but the venue is a synthetic reality dreamworld. I strum a chord, and it bounces off a cyan cloud releasing a shower of notes, I hit another, and it echoes through a crystal chamber."

“This album has been a long time coming,” he added. “I tend to write in a really painstaking way. The last few years of my life have involved a lot of personal trauma – from me and my wife losing a pregnancy, through to losing other people in my life.”

“People knew I could play, I didn’t need to write an album to make that point anymore,” summarises Gomm. “And being aware of that brought out my music in a better way. The technique side can feed into the ego after a while.

"This is still acoustic guitar music, but the sound, approach and experiences behind it are totally different. I didn’t need to force myself to follow any musical philosophy when I could just make a beautiful-sounding album that was totally immersive and more emotional.”

The Faintest Idea is due to be released on October 16 on CD, double gatefold LP, three-disc hardback book edition and a DVD.

His UK and Eire headline tour runs from December to March and takes in gigs at Huddersfield’s Parish Pub on Saturday, December 5, and Leeds’ Brudenell on Friday, January 29, as the nearest venues.