London-based prog outfit Haken are assembling ideas for their fourth album, according to guitarist Richard Henshall.
And although in its early stages, he says the songwriting process won’t be a one-man project on the follow-up to 2013’s The Mountain.
He tells Prog Sphere: “We’ve decided to take a different approach with the writing process of the next album. We’re going to write the album as a band, whereas in the past, I’ve taken care of the main writing duties.
“We’ve never really worked this way before, so it’s really exciting to see what we can create together. It’s still very early days, but the stuff we have is already sounding very promising. Most of the ideas are still in their infancy, so I’m really exited to see what they grow into.”
Henshall also reveals that while they’ll continue to explore some of the ideas that came to fruition on The Mountain, they’re also picking up influences from other artists.
He continues: “Lately, we’ve been listening to a lot of contemporary artists like Karnivool, Everything Everything, Tigran Hamasyan and The Contortionist, so I’m sure their music will have rubbed off on us and will help shape the sound of the next album.
“We tried some new things on The Mountain, like electronic drums and intricate backing vocal arrangements, so I’d love to explore these ideas further on the next release.”
He adds: “We haven’t really gone into depth with the concept or theme of the album, so no titles have been decided. We have a few ideas floating around but nothing is set in stone. For the moment, we’ll just focus on creating the best music in our capabilities, and I’m sure this will guide us to a suitable theme.”
Haken received three nominations at this year’s Progressive Music Awards and released their Restoration EP in October via InsideOut. It featured three tracks, including the epic 19-minute Crystallised. Pete Rinaldi and Mike Portnoy made guest appearances on the song.