All it takes is a few conversations to highlight how mottled the truth can become. In an interview with UK newspaper The Independent, Franz Ferdinand guitarist Nick McCarthy pointed out that the group’s latest batch of tunes will have “an African feel”. In fact, he clarified, their entire upcoming album will. “Afrobeat is the new thing,” he explained. “Ethiopian mixes are everywhere. We’re getting really into it here [in the UK].”

Frontman Alex Kapranos alluded to the same thing in an interview early last year. However, speaking with FasterLouder ahead of their summer tour, bassist Bob Hardy emphasises, “That was really just a sound bite of what [Kapranos] was saying. I mean, that style of music might be something buried deep down in our psyches, but it’s actually not the most obvious influence on the new record.” Considering the band called on a group of Scottish fiddlers to play on one of the new tunes, he makes a strong point (even if the track didn’t make the final cut).

“Since we recorded the second album, the key difference I think is we’ve slowed down a little bit,” he continues. “The second album was really fast; I think that’s because we’d been on tour eighteen months prior to recording it. We were all kind of playing with a lot of speed. Whereas this time we took a kind of holiday from being in the band and when we came back we sort of played in a more…mature way, I guess? Anyway it turned out a lot slower and has more of a groove to it. It’s more of a dancefloor record with a broader palate of sounds on it. It’s got a lot more electronics and synthesisers. The second album didn’t really have that. It was very guitar-based.”

Their new single, Lucid Dreams is a partial exercise in time-travel. The verse is rooted in smooth – œn sleazy – œ70s funk, with its booming bass, drum pulses and punchy treble guitar licks. Then the chorus kicks in, taking that same upbeat energy and rolling in the dirt with it. Kapranos’ vocals change from low-range crooning to strained half-singing, as the rhythm guitar sizzles like a hunk of oil-puddled bacon.

Since they formed seven years ago, Franz Ferdinand has compiled quite the trophy collection – winning the Mercury, Brits, NME and MTV Awards (among others). With the success of their sophomore effort, You Could Have It So Much Better, in 2005, their new album will have to be pretty special to make the same impact.

“Yeah it is quite weird,” Hardy muses. “That’s why I think it’s really important that you choose your own producer, because effectively it’s like asking an extra person to come and join the band for that period of time. You have to really get on with them and trust them. I think in that respect we were really lucky to have Dan Carey [who has produced Hot Chip, Lily Allen, Fatboy Slim and M.I.A]. He’s quite similar in the way he approaches things and he’s interested in music in the same way we are. It was almost like having a fifth member of the band.”

Franz Ferdinand touch down in Australia over the New Years period for the first time since the 2005 Big Day Out. With an arsenal of new tunes aimed for the dance-inclined, punters should expect a band rejuvenated by a fresh set-list.

“It’s really different to play new songs,” Hardy agrees. “I mean, we’ve been playing our old songs for quite a long time; a number of years. And it’s nice to have new material to play around with. There’s some pretty awesome stuff we didn’t have before. Seeing the crowd react to a song for the first time is pretty exciting.”

Franz Ferdinand take us out at the following shows this summer.

30 Dec – Falls Festival, Marion Bay
31 Dec – Falls Festival, Lorne
3 Jan – Southbound Festival, Perth
5 Jan – Palace Theatre, Melbourne
6 Jan – Enmore Theatre, Sydney
8 Jan – Sunset Sounds, Brisbane Botanic Gardens and Riverstage