Producer Tony Visconti has confirmed that The Good, The Bad & The Queen will return this year with a new album.

The band, which included The Clash’s Paul Simonon, The Verve’s Simon Tong drummer Tony Allen, released their highly celebrated record in 2007 but haven’t worked together since 2011 after confirming their ‘secret split’.

Now, though, Visconti has revealed that the new record is ‘two thirds’ finished and is set for release later this year.

“In the middle of 2017, I started working with Damon Albarn,” he told The Irish Times. “I’m working on his The Good, the Bad and the Queen album with Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong.

“We’re about two thirds of the way through and taking a break, as Damon is off on a Gorillaz tour, but we will resume in April and it will be probably be out before next Christmas,” he revealed. “It’s a great album and I think people will be very impressed with it,” he added.

The news comes just weeks after Damon Albarn confirmed that he was again working with the band:

“I’ve been recording the Good, The Bad & The Queen album,” Albarn said. “I’ve been working with Tony Visconti. He’s responsible for some of my favourite records, so that’s been really enlightening and inspirational.

“It’s an ode to the North of England, bizarrely,” Albarn continued. “It’s sort of set in Blackpool, between Starr Gate and [historic pub] Uncle Tom’s Cabin, if you want to be geographically precise.”

“We’ve got pretty much all the songs and recorded all the backing tracks but I’m just emoting over it at the moment. I can hear what I’m saying kind of, a bit, but it’s still a bit unintelligible.”