Kapranos and co love the sound of walking away

Published on Sunday 26 November 2006 00:15

IT'S SO much better on holiday. At least it is if you're a member of Franz Ferdinand.

After two hit albums, unprecedented praise and world domination, the Glasgow band are taking a well-earned six month break.

The band members will unite again, for official work duties, early next summer to begin work on their much-anticipated third album.

A source close to them said last night: "The band are in the throes of taking six months off, heading to different places around the globe.

"Ideas have been thrown around already for the next album but they will start on that properly when they get back to work in June or July."

Despite a gruelling world tour which won widespread critical acclaim, it emerged yesterday that the band are unlikely to be short on activity.

Guitarist Nick McCarthy is currently curating an art exhibition at the Lightbox Gallery in Los Angeles, featuring work by Lucy Stein and Jo Robertson. The exhibition will run until the end of January and McCarthy might want to stay in the US for the festive season.

Alex Kapranos is likely to spend much of January promoting the paperback version of his highly successful food book, Sound Bites: Eating On Tour With Franz Ferdinand, which comes out at the beginning of the year.

The band members who venture further afield are expected to return to Glasgow for the cinematic release of David Mackenzie's new film Hallam Foe, which will feature a new Franz Ferdinand track.

Last night, one music industry insider said he thought the band would stay close to home to enjoy their time off. "They are good lads who enjoy the Glasgow scene. I'm sure they might head for a spell in the sun but when they have time off, they're never too far from home. They have their feet firmly on the ground. That's why they have been such a success."

Alex Papasimakopolou, director of music management at the promotions company, Everymatic, said: "I suppose it's little surprise that after working so hard for so long they want a decent break.

"The ironic thing is that so often when bands take a break they can end up using a lot of that time working on solo projects so don't get the break they really need."