The Hives: 'It's been a terrible couple of years for the band'

The Hives have spoken about their lengthy absence from music and revealed that they have endured "a terrible couple of years".

The Swedish band, who last released an album in 2007 with 'Black And White Hives', will release their fifth album 'Lex Hives' on June 5 and singer Howlin' Pelle Almqvist has told NME that the band are relieved to have finally finished it.

Asked what had caused the lengthy delay between albums, Almqvist replied: "It's been a terrible couple of years for the band. We're out of the dark ages now though, but we've had a lot of problems. Problems of all kinds. Rock 'n' roll kind of problems, but we're ready to go now."

Then asked if he could into specifics about what kind of problems the band had incurred and if the line-up had changed at all, he replied: "All the stuff that happens in rock bios, all the things that seem like problems for a band, all that sort of thing. It's the same band though, now and forever. We had every other problem, but not that one. It's the same band. We feel really good now, strong, happy and excited."

The singer also spoke the band's decision to produce the album themselves, and said that this had added to the delay in completing the record.

He said of this: "We had a lot of producers on the last album and it took a long time to get all the schedules to work and actually get in the studio. So this time, we figured we'd produce it ourselves. In theory it should have been quicker. Turns out it's not. Turns out you suddenly have five producers and everyone has to agree. I don't know how to make an album fast; I don't think we ever really did."

'Lex Hives' will be preceded by a single 'Go Right Ahead' and the band are expected to announce fresh live dates in support of the album in the coming weeks.

The Hives open up about new album 'Lex Hives'

The Hives have spoken in depth about their first studio album for five years 'Lex Hives'.

The Swedish band, who last released an album in 2007 with 'Black And White Hives', will release their fifth album on June 5 and singer Howlin' Pelle Almqvist has told NME that though some tracks on the album represent a significant departure from their earlier records, the LP "still sounds like The Hives".

Asked if 'Lex Hives' stuck to the classic garage rock formula of the band's previous efforts, Almqvist said: "There's no formula, but it definitely sounds like The Hives. Every good band there is has a certain sound. There are a few songs that couldn't have been on any of other Hives album, that are sort of a departure, but I'd say that kind of happened on the last time album too. But I'd also say that they couldn't have been on any other album by anybody else either."

Almqvist also said that the band could not cite any influences for the record, but that he was very excited for people to hear it.

He said of this: "We're not 21 anymore. Most of the influences come from within or they're so ingrained in our DNA that we don't really think of them as influences anymore. We haven't really listened to other music for almost two years because we've been working on the album. There's a few different tempos. And then there are some songs that are in a style that I don't think anyone has done before, at all. I'm really excited about it. And if it's exciting to me, then it's exciting to most other people as well."

Almqvist revealed that 'Lex Hives' had largely been recorded in the band's home country of Sweden, with one week in Berlin's Hansa Studios, which they used to try and recreate Iggy And The Stooges' classic drum sound.

Asked where the band recorded the album, he said: "Last time we recorded a lot of it aboard and this time we thought we'd record it in Stockholm, pretty much every good studio in Stockholm. We'd get some songs together, then we'd record for a week, then we'd go home and get some more songs together and we'd keep going like that. We also spent one week in the Hansa studio in Berlin, trying to get the Iggy drum sound."

The singer also gave some more details on the album, revealing that it had 12 songs in total. He said: "There are 12 songs on the record; we probably recorded 14 or 15. There's one called 'My Time Is Coming' that we're pretty proud of, there's one called 'I Want More', another called 'Patrolling Days'. It's a pretty cool record. It's my favourite of all our albums, easily."

Almqvist also added that the band have begun work on their sixth album already, despite the fact 'Lex Hives' isn't even out yet, adding: "We feel like we've got a pretty good start on the next one already. It'll probably be six years down the line before we release it though."

'Lex Hives' will be preceded by a single 'Go Right Ahead' and the band are expected to announce fresh live dates in support of the album in the coming weeks.