Portishead Start Work New Album

Bristol trip hop dons Portishead have signed a new record deal and are working on fresh material.

Portishead were one of the most influential British groups of the 90s, but spent the bulk of the next decade doing very little. The Noughties passed by, but the Bristol group had only one album to show for their troubles.

It's just as well the album was 'Third' then. A spectacular return, it radically updated the Portishead template without losing sight of the band's trademark sound.

A stunning release, it marked the return of a truly unique band. Now Portishead have signed a new record deal with leader Geoff Barrow claiming that the trip hop giants have begun work on fresh material.

Speaking to BBC 6Music the producer claimed that Portishead have signed a major new deal. "It's with a major. It's with the biggest record company in the world. It's with people we trust which with a band is the most important thing."

Continuing, Barrow claimed that Portishead simply do not fit in with the Britihs music industry any more. "We did the third record, it did incredibly well. We got very little support from the UK as we don't represent a certain demographic of people. But we did Coachella and that was amazing."

"We just signed another deal so we start working on new music shortly. We've had an enormous amount of success with the third record, even if people think that we haven't been around for a long time. "

The Portishead producer then confirmed that work will begin on a new album over the summer. "I'm writing for Portishead through July and August and I just want to bang on and get another record done."

"For us, our fans want to hear a Portishead album as a collection of work. Formats have changed constantly throughout the years, so if the album is still a relevant format I don't know. But if somebody writes a body of work like eight to ten songs which really means something then that's what I want to listen to."

There is no timescale on a new Portishead album. Released in 2008, 'Third' came ten years after their last album.