Kosheen are set to follow up their hotly tipped 2001 debut Resist with a new album in March. The British drum-and-bass combo have written more than twenty new tracks -- including "Little Boy," "Coming Home Baby" and "Keep It Real" -- for the as-yet-untitled effort.

"The first time I went into the studio, I didn't even take off my coat," says Kosheen chanteuse Sian Evans. "I heard something rolling in the background and just stood by a microphone and sang a song. Then I turned around to see Mark [Substance] and Darren [Decoder] with their jaws on the floor."

The group, who had big dance-floor hits last year with "Hungry" and the Jon Creamer and Stephane K remix of "Hide U" (a favorite of DJs Pete Tong and Seb Fontaine), say the new release is a progression of their pop-friendly sound.

"We've had such a positive response from the first album, and it's a development of that," Evans says. "But there's also been a lot of very dark moments that need to be expressed, so there will be more leftfield stuff on the album."

Kosheen will return to the U.S. for a tour next year.

JOLIE LASH
(December 20, 2002)