Ray Davies says a new Kinks album is underway

Ray Davies has revealed that The Kinks are working on a new album.

Despite persistent rumours that the band were unlikely to record or play together again, Davies told BBC News that the band are currently writing new material.

"We've started a little bit of this and that," he said. "But it is too early to judge the quality. It depends if there's good music. We want good new music. I'd like to do it as a more collaborative thing than we used to do."

Davies said that he would have to fit a full Kinks reunion around his solo projects, which include a US tour, an album with a choir and a collaborations album.

Speaking of the collaborations project, Davies said he was interested in working with Razorlight's Johnny Borrell, Chuck Berry and Snow Patrol, as well as unsigned bands: "I'd love to do something with Johnny, but I'd like to find new bands. Unsigned even. I usually like the underdogs.

"We'll see how it works out - a mixture of Snow Patrol and Chuck Berry. It should be an interesting record."

The Kinks are now one of the few British bands of the 1960s whose founder members are all still alive.

The band last performed live together in 1996.