Looking to the road ahead

Photo: Ian Rook

UK tour . . . the Inspiral Carpets shown here following a recent gig in Holmfirth.

KEYBOARD legend Clint Boon has revealed to the Chronicle that Madchester darlings Inspiral Carpets have begun recording their next album and gigs will follow early in the new year.

It's just over two years since the 90s heroes - Boon, Graham Lambert, Steve Holt, Martyn Walsh and Craig Gill - released their superb self-titled album - the first brand new material in more than two decades.

However, after taking 2016 off to pursue all of the individual band members' other commitments, the Carpets looks set to return in 2017.

Boon told me: "We've not gone into this latest break with any sort of plan really, but we have started writing/recording the next album already.

"The way we've been doing it, largely, has been by just going in the studio separately and putting some bits down each time.

"We've been using the studio more as a tool, certainly more than we've ever done before.

"Traditionally we've all gone in as a complete cell and built the music from there, but we're doing it a different way around this time, basically because we can do.

"It's trying something different, and the results so far are great.

"We've got two or three news songs that we could release now and people would be excited about them.

"We're going to get the bones of an album together, I'm guessing, hopefully early next year, and then start doing some gigs on the back of that.

"We're not gagging to do gigs until we've got the album done, but we're also not being complacent or disrespectful to what we've achieved over the years.

"It's just a case of being a bit more relaxed about the whole thing at the moment.

"Our lives and livelihoods don't rely on the band any more. It's just nice that because we're self-managed now, the results are better because we're doing everything ourselves."

Watch this space!