It may have taken Portishead over a decade to follow up their sophomore record, but the British trio are just about ready to plot their next album between upcoming tour dates, reports BBC 6. In addition to curating All Tomorrow’s Parties (with Grinderman, Beach House, Liars, Swans, and more signed on to lead the lineup) in London next summer, Beth Gibbons, Adrian Utley, and Geoff Barrow are “gearing up” for new material. Utley says:
We’re just finishing up some projects we’ve each got and then we’ll look to start writing, a little bit separately and then together but it is pretty exciting. I think we’re just gearing up to it, staring at each other a bit and getting ready to go.
As any Portishead fan could tell you, though, don’t hold your breath: “We tend to disappear into a studio for a long long time,” Utley admits, “and sometimes it can get pretty dark which in a way is a part of the creative process…”
Ideally, the live element will influence their forthcoming new material, he adds, which is perhaps the most intriguing element to this story. Either way, I’m going to give the first three stunning Portishead records a spin right now and feel very optimistic for more to come…