September 26, 2000 10:00

MILLS AND SWOON!

The ex-[a]Kula Shaker[/a] frontman tells [b]nme.com[/b] he "couldn't think of anybody better" with whom to relaunch his career...

CRISPIAN MILLS, the former Kula Shaker frontman, who is to support Robbie Williams on his forthcoming UK tour, told nme.com he "couldn't think of anybody better" with whom to relaunch his career.

The unlikely pairing, which kicks off in Birmingham on October 9, came together when Williams heard some of the material Mills had been recording with his new band and made the approach.

"They were looking for a support band," explained Mills. "We'd literally just finished recording and I think he heard some of the tracks through his agent. It's really exciting. I like his style, his records sound very well put together."

Mills has been in the studio for the best part of a year with Mark Pritchard of Jedi Knights, Clive Deamer, the drummer for both Roni Size and Portishead and Kim Khahn on bass.

Describing the sound as "tougher sounding with harder beats, moving on from what I did with Kula Shaker", Mills said he was looking towards early next year for the album release. A working title at present is 'Let Me Have It'.

Mills added he wasn't resentful about some of the negative things said about Kula Shaker during their brief career.

"Not resentful at all," he said. "Any pressures or complications that come with that are little. You can't complain about being in a privileged position. However he admitted to having little contact with the rest of his band since the split because he had been in "a creative bubble".

Mills also said that following the completion of Williams tour on November 6, he intends to take his new band on a headlining tour.

Meanwhile, Robbie releases his new single 'Kids', a duet with Kylie Minogue, on October 9.

The full dates for the Williams' tour (which also includes Dum Dums and Smash Mouth in support) is as follows: Birmingham NEC (October 9-14) Glasgow SECC (16-18) Newcastle Arena (20-21) Manchester Arena (23-28) London Docklands Arena (October 31-November 6)