The xx to record 'completely different' new album in Iceland

Details have emerged about The xx's new album, revealing that it sounds 'completely different' to previous efforts and will be recorded in Iceland. 

Jamie xx had previously told BBC 6 Music that the follow-up to 2012's critically-acclaimed Coexist was being worked on in Austin, Texas.

Now, their label XL's in-house producer Rodaidh McDonald has told  Dazed Magazine that the Mercury-winners third LP has a “completely different concept” their previous two.

"We’re doing it in Texas and Iceland, and maybe France," he said. "So that’s kind of starting in the middle of July, I’ve already spent a bit of time with them in Texas.

"There are songs which have come out of our experiences in New York and Texas that would never have come out in London; the colours and the ideas and the moods on some of these songs are just not things you would write in London. It’s about opening things up a bit more.

He added: "They are a London band, but they’re also a band that’s spent a lot of time in different countries. So we’re trying to push that further with the Iceland trip, which is happening in July."

Last year, the band spoke to NME about their third album, saying: "We don't find it easy as a band to write on tour, so we haven't got much done yet with new songs, because we've been touring Coexist so much. We're looking forward to having time off to be creative again."

The band's self-titled debut album was released in 2010, and was awarded the Mercury Prize. Their second album, Coexist, was released in 2012.