Kraftwerk

eddie Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:09 pm

Kraftwerk to release new album 'soon'

Ralf Hütter reveals the band have almost finished a new record, their first since 2003's Tour de France

Sean Michaels

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 April 2012 10.44 BST

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'We are always operating, we are upgrading continuously' … Kraftwerk's Ralf Hütter takes the band's robotic vision very seriously. Photograph: Jason Szenes/Reuters

Kraftwerk have revealed they are releasing a new album "soon". As the German band finish their eight-night residency at New York's Museum of Modern Art, frontman Ralf Hütter revealed they have almost finished their first LP since 2003's Tour de France.

Hütter's comment was almost an afterthought, slipped in at the end of an interview with the New York Times. "We didn't fall asleep," he said, referring to the group's recording ventures. "The 168-hour week is still going on since the beginning, since 1970."

Now in their fifth decade, Kraftwerk's inspirations continue to be contemporary. "We learn from noise, and we learn from going to clubs," he said. "Music is never finished. It starts again tomorrow." Kraftwerk's Moma concerts saw them revisiting eight albums, but the band played revamped, overhauled versions. "We are [always] operating, we are upgrading, we are updating continuously," he said. "There's continuous reprogramming going on, and composition and new concepts are also coming."

Kraftwerk last discussed their new album in October 2009, suggesting it would be out in 2010. "In the winter it's pretty grey here, so it's a good situation to go into the studio," Hütter told Billboard. "It's still in its embryonic stage." The Germans' next LP will be their 11th studio album and their first without Florian Schneider, who left the group three years ago.