December 20, 2007 10:52

Jack White working on three albums

White Stripe admits cancelled tour did him a favour

Photo Gallery: The White Stripes

Jack White has revealed he he is working on three albums.

The White Stripes and The Raconteurs man explained his current projects while discussing the fallout caused by his first band scrapping their the rest of their 2007 tour dates because drummer Meg White was suffering from acute anxiety.

“Half of me was glad because I have three other records I’m working on, and I didn’t have any time to work on them," he told the Seattle Times. "I was really getting worried that I might have to not do these things I wanted to do because of the touring.”

White would not name what the other projects he was working on, but denied it was The Raconteurs' new album or the long-rumoured solo album.

White added that the cancelled dates did not mark the end of The White Stripes though, declaring: “If it came to a point where Meg said 'I don’t want to be in this band anymore, it doesn’t fulfil me in any way,’ then it would be a different story. But she’s not saying that.”

White speculated on how long the band’s live break was going to be.

“I guess it’s up to her…she seems to be lively," he said. "She was really invigorating working together on this ’Conquest’ record (new single). I was wondering if she was interested and she was completely - very, very involved.”

White also spoke about the band’s collaboration with Beck.

“We had some songs that were kind of lingering around," he explained. "Meg and I had never really played them, we just kind of learned them in Beck’s living room. His studio wasn’t ready to go, so he just set it up in his living room. He’s inspiring to us because of the way he looks at folk music. It’s different from the way we look at folk music.”