If you've been wondering what the magnificent Mystery Jets have been up to since 2012's Radlands, you're in luck - as they've been busy building their own London studio and frontman Blaine Harrison tells us that their new record is sounding 'surprising'.
Watch our video interview with Blaine Harrison above
The band retreated to London to build their own space after touring the sticks and the backroads of the US with Mumford & Sons. Now, they're back at the drawing board, and their sixth album sees the band enjoy a newfound freedom.
"I think making the record in our own studio has meant that we can take longer on things, Harrison tells Gigwise. "We're not sort of clocking in and clocking out, which is both a great thing and a bit of a gripe because it means that you can sort of go on forever and it's quite hard to know when to draw a line and say 'right, something is finished'. We've recently started sending off the first few tracks to be mixed, and that's felt really nice because it feels there are actually some goalposts and this music is actually going to get heard by someone at some point.
"As we're leaking things to the mixing room, we're hearing tracks back and it's really exciting hearing someone else's impression of what we're doing. "
Speaking of the direction of the record, Harrison said: "It's quite early doors to maybe say what the record sounds like, but what I would say is that a year ago we thought that we were making a completely different record. The tracklisting was completely different and the majority of the songs that were on that record haven't ended up on this album, so we've kind of made two albums."
He continued: "There are some moments on there for people who love our big choruses - there are some big choruses on there. There's also some of the things that got us into forming a band in the first place - not necessarily our prog roots showing through but there are definitely some wig-outs. I guess ask any band that has been around for a few years and they'll probably say that their audience has changed, and with each record that's definitely been the case for us.
"I can remember on our first record, it felt like it a lot of the people who came to our shows came on their own, they didn't come in big groups, they were like 'This is my band'. Rather than a mass appeal it seemed like more of a secret, and then we seemed to get a younger audience and more girls coming to our gigs, and then it seemed to be girls that have got their boyfriends into it, so a lot of couples - now I'm not sure what this record is going to be."
Harrison added: "I think it's comprised of things that have had a trace in our other albums, but I also hope that it's something that's completely new.
As for a release date? "We haven't got an exact release date for the album yet, but we'll have to see," said Blaine. "We're going to be making an announcement in the summer and people will hear some new music in the autumn."
Meanwhile, Mystery Jets are confirmed to appear at Victorious Festival in Portsmouth from 29-30 August this summer. See below for tickets and information.
