New Franz album 'a bit softer'

Franz Ferdinand's Paul Thomson has admitted the band's upcoming third album will be less rocky than their previous records.

Speaking to Radio 1's Newsbeat, the drummer said: "The thing with the last album, we'd just come straight off a tour and into a studio and it felt like we hadn't even stopped to take a breather. That's reflected in the tempo of those songs, we just sort of battered though them.

"With this one, we took some time off and then got back together again and started playing. It was like we started learning how to play our instruments again. I think it comes naturally to play a bit softer now."

The group worked with Girls Aloud producer Brian Higgins on the record but parted ways after the collaboration "didn't really work out".

"We just realised that we're not a pop group," said Thomson. "We're just a band that happens to cross over into the whole pop sphere."

They admitted that African music was a big influence on them, particularly on new track 'Send Him Away'.

Thomson explained: "It's the most African sounding track on the new album. It starts off a bit jazzy and hypnotic and then then it ends up with us doing an afrobeat jam."