Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos has promised that their new album will be more “disco-driven” than their previous two long-players.

The band have already road-tested a number of tracks at Latitude festival and on their tour of intimate venues around the UK, but Kapranos insists they've got a few surprises up their sleeves.

The 36-year-old said of the as-yet-untitled album: "The album has more of a disco dance floor sort of tempo. While the music is not necessarily disco music, it is around about that tempo and it makes you move in that kind of a way.

"There's definitely a different feel. I've been noticing the audiences moving in a different kind of way to the way they might have moved to the older songs."

Speaking to Newsbeat, Kapranos downplayed the idea that the record would incorporate afro-beat sounds, following their African Exprez show with Damon Albarn.

He continued: "I think the African thing got a little exaggerated because we did the Africa Exprez gig a wee while ago and I think drummer Paul (Thomson) and I mentioned we'd been listening to some Ethiopian bands.

"Suddenly everybody thought we were making an afro-beat album. But we're not really. I think we're incapable of making an afro-beat album. It's always going to sound like a Franz Ferdinand album."

The album is scheduled for release in January 2009.

(by Scott Colothan)