The Zutons have begin working on their fourth studio album, saxophonist Abi Harding has revealed.

The news comes despite the fact that the band were dropped by their label Deltasonic at the end of 2008 due to poor sales of their third album 'You Can Do Anything'.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Harding revealed: "We're writing a new album at the moment. We've just moved rehearsal rooms, so we're pretty busy.

“We've had a bit of time off. Now we're just concentrating on writing."

Harding was guarded about what the new material will actually sound like but did talk about the styles of music the band are currently listening to and could be influenced by.

She explained: "I've been listening to loads of music - some mad instrumental stuff from Africa, some great stuff from Fela Kuti.

"It's nothing like what I play, but I love listening to it. Maybe it inspires a bit of what we do. But that's always been the thing with the band - what we play changes all the time. It feels like we can play anything we want."

(by Daniel Melia)