The Darkness Wrapping Up Work on New Album

The announcement of a full-on return for The Darkness has only added to the buzz for 2012, which is shaping up to be a monster year for music. The band recently took part in a conference call with reporters, and Guitar World was there to get the scoop on the new album and why they decided to finally get back together.

"We've been through a lot, just in the last year, and all it's done is made us closer," said singer/guitarist Justin Hawkins of the new dynamic in the band following their hiatus. "We understand each other now, where I think we were still finding things out about each other along the way ... When we do have a sit-down now and clarify things, we already know what each other's thinking. It's just like classic brothers, really; I suppose we're old enough to understand each other now."

The band also confirmed that release plans for the album are still fuzzy, but Justin's brother Dan has a date in mind, saying: "I'd like it to be on my birthday, which is the 17th of March. That would be the ultimate gift to myself."

The Darkness have opted to handle production duties on the as-yet-untitled album themselves, hoping it steers them toward a more minimal sound, with Dan adding: "We're kind of trying to get back to the more organic kind of rock sounds of the Darkness."

As for the progress of the album, it sounds like the band's follow-up to 2005's One Way Ticket to Hell...and Back is nearing completion, with nine tracks completely finished so far.

"We've got about two weeks of recording in January, and bits of it are already going off to be mixed even as we speak, so it's kind of nearly finished now," Justin said.

Expect a new album from the Darkness and a North American tour in early 2012.