Even The Avalanches are getting in on the joke about the epic wait between releases from The Avalanches.

Their second album, the J Award nom'd Wildflower, came 16 years after their groundbreaking debut Since I Left You. But word came at the end of last year that work had begun on a third album - so how's that going?

"It's great. I don't know if we should even talk about it because no-one will believe us if we say it's going really well," Robbie Chater jokes on air with triple j Drive. "I think we’re going to jinx it if we say it’s going to come out soon-ish."

"But honestly it might be good to have a deadline," Avalanches partner-in-crime Tony Di Blasi chimes in; "Because last time we didn’t and its 16 years later and it was like ‘aww, maybe we should’ve done that'."

Back in August, the band posted that it was "day one" of LP#3 on social media and there has been progress since, despite a very active 18 month touring cycle behind Wildflower.

"We've been writing heaps of songs," the duo confirm. "A lot of the pressure’s off after following up Since I Left You… it’s a lot more party and up-tempo. We’re having a lot of fun with it. Just not overthinking it, that’s how we’re going about it differently."

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RELATED: 'The Avalanches' guide to the samples, features, and stories of Wildflower'

What hasn't changed is The Avalanches' love of a sample - sometimes the more obscure, the better. While emerging technology has widened their pool for finding their musical DNA ("YouTube wasn’t around when we made Since I Left You, so that's like wow!"), record digging is still the band's primary method and they've been sharing some of their sampling finds on social media.

So, it's surprising to hear that Robbie has had to cull his beloved wax, not just because of the practicalities of moving into a smaller flat but a more zen approach to composition, to wipe the creative slate clean

"After Wildflower I sold my whole record collection. Two albums came from that [record collection] so I felt like it was time to clear it all out."

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Chater purged around 6,000 - 7,000 records ("not that many", LOL), selling them to Melbourne's Licorice Pie Records, the logic being his vinyl detox would divine new inspiration.

"I kept a few hundred that were my favourites and ones we’d sampled and the rest all went. You’ve got to make room for new music to come into your life.”

"I’ve just figured out over time that the way I work best is [with] really minimal equipment: just a record player and a laptop really. Don’t need much at all to make good music.”

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The Avalanches perform at Sydney City Limits on Saturday, Perth International Arts Festival on Sunday, then the Tivoli in Brisbane, WOMADelaide, and old favourite, Golden Plains in Victoria. "We grew up with Meredith [festival]; great people," the twosome remark of the latter gig. "We're looking forward to that."