The Avalanches have vowed their new album will only take three years to complete, after announcing the release of their first album for 16 years.
Details of the Australian band’s new album ‘Wildflower’ were revealed earlier today (June 2). Released on July 8, the album follows their 2000 album ‘Since I Left You’.
Speaking to Zane Lowe on Beats 1, band member Robbie Chater said: “We’ll have another album done in three years.”
Chater and Tony Di Blasi said that one reason ‘Wildflower’ took so long is that they had so much music that they couldn’t work out how to fit it together. Di Blasi said: “There was so much music and so many different projects going on that, at a certain point, we realised we had to pull a record together.”
Collaborations on the new album include Danny Brown and Doom – who both guest on new single ‘Frankie Sinatra’, plus Father John Misty, Mercury Rev singer Jonathan Donohue, Biz Markie, Toro Y Moi, Royal Trux singer Jennifer Herrera, Ariel Pink and Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis.
But the band said that they “ran out of time” to finish a collaboration with Empire Of The Sun/The Sleepy Jackson singer Luke Steele. “That song almost made the album, actually,” said Chater. “That’s the song that got away. We just couldn’t finish it in time.”
Other collaborations left off the album include Connan Mockasin, Jens Lekman and Kid Creole And The Coconuts singer August Darnell. Di Blasi said: “Some songs didn’t contribute to the overall feeling of the record. Once we had the feeling of the record, we just built on it and selected tracks that fit. It was like making a mixtape.”
Those songs left off will be included on an expanded edition of ‘Wildflower’ within the next year.
The Avalanches were due to make their comeback with a secret gig last night at Ramsgate Music Hall. This was cancelled after Chater’s passport was stolen. NME understands that these issues will be resolved by the time of the band’s full UK return at London’s Oval Space on June 9, followed by festival shows at Wild Life and Field Day. NME will update any developments on the band’s shows.