Snow Patrol's seventh studio album is on the "home straight".
Gary Lightbody in the studio (c) Instagram
The 'Chasing Cars' group's frontman Gary Lightbody gave an update on their much-awaited follow-up to 2011's 'Fallen Empires' on Instagram on Saturday (25.03.17), and said he and his bandmates - Jonny Quinn, Nathan Connolly, Paul Wilson and Jonny McDaid - are working with their long-time producer Jacknife Lee and are hoping to drop the record later this year after several "false starts".
The 40-year-old rocker also promised to give another update in May when they plan on heading into the studio with Jacknife, who has worked with the likes of U2, R.E.M. and Robbie Williams over the years.
Gary didn't want to talk about their new music until they were happy with it, but says he's "very proud" of what they've done so far, and thanked fans for their "patience" after six years of waiting for new music.
In a lengthy post alongside a picture of him hard at work in the studio, Gary wrote on the photo-sharing app: "For the folks asking about the new snow patrol album, #SP7. here's the news. we had a breakthrough recording session in feb and are on the home straight. The awesome jacknife lee is in the producer's chair as usual and we have more time with him in the studio in may/june and will be finished at the end of june. hopefully that gives us plenty of time to bring the album out this year. that is the plan. Plans are fallible but we'll damn well try our best.
there have been a few false starts so i didn't want to post something until i knew we were on the right track. we are. it's sounding mighty. i'm very proud of what we've done so far and cannot wait for you all to hear it. thank you all for your patience and support. 6 years is a bloody eternity between albums we know so the fact people are still asking when it's coming means a lot to us. we'll post updates from the studio from late may onwards. big love good people. gL.x (sic)"
In May 2016, Gary said they decided to strip back their usual indie rock sound by recording just one guitar for their new tunes.
At the time, he told BANG Showbiz: "You can expect great songs and a slightly different approach. Instead of recording 10 guitars we are just recording one.
"All the frequencies aren't being taken up anymore. So it sounds even bigger than it ever did. It is amazing how I really works. "
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