Elbow: 'We've got 40 new songs'

By Damian Jones
6 Music News reporter

Elbow are set to play a homecoming gig in Manchester next month

Elbow frontman Guy Garvey has revealed his band have a wealth of new material to choose from for their next album.

The Bury quintet are planning to lay down tracks for the follow-up to The Seldom Seen Kid after their final homecoming gig at the Manchester's MEN Arena on 18 September.

"We've got 30 or 40 odds and ends musically," Garvey told BBC 6 Music.

"I've got a couple of books worth of scribbles, so we're just going to keep doing that for maybe six months."

He continued: "After that, we'll hammer the strongest ideas into a record."

The singer said much of the new material had been written while the band were on the road or when they had found a spare moment in between gigs.

It's a great honour to support U2 because they're the biggest band in the world at the minute Guy Garvey, Elbow

He said he had "no idea" when the LP would be completed but confirmed that the band will be returning to their own studio, Blueprint, in Salford for the recording sessions.

"I'm looking forward to being back in the bunker again," Garvey said.

"It's a great space on every level and it's got a real community buzz about it.

"You've got established bands working there and you get really huge pop bands coming through town like Justin Timberlake and Timbaland."

Elbow are currently supporting U2 on their UK tour.

Garvey admitted that getting the call from the Dublin four-piece was a "childhood dream come true".

"It's a great honour to support them because they're the biggest band in the world at the minute and have been for 20 years," he enthused.

"I keep thinking, 'Right what do you do next... apart from that kind of thing yourself?'"