Snow Patrol announce plans for first new album in six years

Snow Patrol have announced that they will release a brand new album this year, following on from 2011’s Fallen Empires.

The Scottish/Northern Irish rockers confirmed that their seventh studio album will drop before the end of the year, six years after their last new material.

Frontman Gary Lightbody revealed the news in a lengthy post on the band’s official Instagram account, saying that they’re currently putting the finishing touches to the record.

“For the folks asking about the new snow patrol album, #SP7, here’s the news. we had a breakthrough recording session in Feb and are on the home straight,” he wrote.

The singer said that frequent collaborator Jacknife Lee is acting as producer and they plan to have the new music completed by the summer.

“Hopefully that gives us plenty of time to bring the album out this year,” he wrote. “That is the plan. Plans are fallible but we'll damn well try our best. there have been a few false starts so i didn’t want to post something until i knew we were on the right track. we are.”

He added: “It’s sounding mighty. i’m very proud of what we’ve done so far and cannot wait for you all to hear it. thank you all for your patience and support.

“6 years is a bloody eternity between albums we know so the fact people are still asking when it's coming means a lot to us. we’ll post updates from the studio from late may onwards. big love good people. gL.x”

The band released their debut album, Songs for Polarbears, back in 1998 while their breakthrough, Final Straw, dropped in 2003.

While they haven’t released any new material for years, they have recently posted covers of tracks by Bon Iver, Leonard Cohen and Ryan Adams.