Foals Talk New Material

Returning math rock heroes Foals have revealed that they have begun work on their new album, which is said to be influenced by funk, dub and soul.

Foals emerged from the ashes of several avant garde guitar bands in Oxford. Eager to try something a little more accessible, the band formed Foals yet were immediately shunned by the surrounding math rock scene.

Struggling for gigs, the band began playing house parties. Taking them across the nation, this unusual tour eventually found Foals playing on the cult television show skins. A deal with Trangressive followed, and Foals became one of the most talked about new groups in the country.

Debut album 'Antidotes' more than justified the hype. With its jerky rhythms and singer Yannis Philippakis' unusual lyrics it seemed like a breath of fresh air in a British indie scene increasingly dominated by dull, grey kitchen sink realism.

Since then the band have toured ceaselessly yet have also found time to work on new material. At recent shows they have introduced a noise jam, which Foals claim is their way of trying out new ideas.

Speaking to BBC 6Music, Phillippakis revealed that the band have decided to ditch their rock influences in favour of something a little more eclectic.

"Basically, everything that we didn't like before, we've got into now," he said, adding, "we don’t really listen to that much rock music at the moment."

Continuing, the singer went on to list the music he has been making. "We're listening to a lot of hip-hop, stuff like Donald Byrd and some long disco edits, Donna Summer, James Brown, stuff that before we would have always felt was too part of the canon."

Foals have a reputation as being a 'cool' band, and the singer claimed that he wasn't worried if some fans are distracted by their new taste for funk.

"With a lot of funk records, it's kind of seen as being uncool in some way, and it's just a challenge for us. We see it as being a chameleon basically," he told BBC 6Music.

Foals are currently working on their new album at their Oxford base, which is due for release in 2010.