Ray Davies prepping new Kinks album

Ray Davies is compiling a new Kinks album which may feature the first new music from the band in 16 years. Davies, who is currently on tour in support of his latest album, The Kinks Choral Collection, said that he's been pouring through the band's outtakes and has recorded new music with the band's drummer Mick Avory. Davies is hopeful to get his younger brother and lead guitarist Dave Davies -- who is on the mend after a 2004 stroke -- involved in the project.

We asked Davies what we can expect from a new Kinks collection: [ Click to listen if you have a backstage pass] "There's lots of outtakes in the archives (with) the whole band on, for some reasons I hadn't put vocals down, or the album was finished and we didn't use them. And we found some really good stuff in the archive, and I actually went in the studio with Mick and a couple of the guys without Dave just to see what it was like in the studio together, and we're going to look at this possibility later this year. I'd only put it together if it was a good album and it warranted a release. But we found some great material already recorded. It spans late '70s through to the early '90s -- as well as the newer songs that we're sort of thinking of recording."

Mick Avory shed some light on the project and hinted that more group work needs to be done before it's suitable for release, telling Spinner.com, "We are certainly doing another album. We've got old tracks, which need to be baked. You have to go through this process to transfer them to digital, it's a bit of a process and you only get one shot at it. . . We've certainly got eight tracks we could use there, so we're going to have to do some more to make the numbers up for an album."

There's been no title or release date set for the upcoming Kinks project.

Ray Davies tour dates (subject to change):
MARCH
9 - Binghamton, NY - Forum Theatre
11 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater
12 - Lorain, OH - Lorain Palace Theatre
13 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
15 - Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
17 - Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
18 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
20 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre
23 - Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theatre
24 - Anaheim, CA - Grove Of Anaheim
25 - Agoura Hills, CA - Canyon Club