CHUMBAWAMBA are busy in band member Harry Hamer's bedroom - writing for their new album.

The band, who hit the headlines this week after branding acquitted suspects in the Stephen Lawrence murder case as "killers", have used the proceeds from their No 1 single Tubthumping to buy recording equipment.

They are recording new songs at Harry's home and once the material is finished they will mix the tracks at a studio in Castleford, West Yorkshire.

Burnley-born singer Alice Nutter told Pulse this week: "It is a pop album. It's a sort of concept album, although not in the same way as, say, Genesis.

"It's a mix-up of pop culture and politics and it may well offend people.

"We have always plundered every musical genre. That's why we've moved through jazz, punk, acapella - we are quite reactive.

"We've always tried to stand up and say what we believe, but we're also into three-minute throwaway pop songs.

"If we were just interested in politics we could go away and write pamphlets."

Alice explained the group's decision to take a break from touring this year and let music go on the back-burner.

She said: "We decided we had to stop being away all the time.

"We wanted to get back to the North and be around our friends.

"We're lucky in that we've sold four million albums and toured all over the world and we still have kept all our friends. We don't want to get on some rock and roll bandwagon."

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