Snow Patrol Toss Material for New Album, Start From Scratch

Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody has always been known to be a perfectionist, but this time he has taken it to the extreme. The band had an album worth of material ready before the singer decided to scrap those plans and start from scratch.

NME spoke to Lightbody about why Snow Patrol decided to start fresh with the follow-up to their 2011 album, 'Fallen Empires.' Apparently the songs were from the same recording sessions as their last record and weren't up to snuff anymore.

"We recorded a second album during the 'Fallen Empires' session," Lightbody says. "But we've scrapped that one now. The songs I've been writing recently are light years away from anything I've ever done. It's mindboggling stuff."

Those are bold words, considering 'Fallen Empires' and Snow Patrol's 2008 release, 'A Hundred Million Suns,' failed to meet the same success set by previous albums 'Eyes Open' and 'Final Straw.' However, Lightbody will never just rest on his band's laurels and stay complacent. He plans on making Snow Patrol one of the biggest bands in the world.

"I won't be happy though until we're huge in America, in fact, until we're huge all round the world," Lightbody proclaims. "I'm never satisfied with what I've been given. I'm greatly honored and blessed with everything we have, but I want to be playing in huge stadiums around the world. I'm always striving to make the best album. I don't want to settle for anything less."

The group will continue to work with longtime producer Jackknife Lee, but include other contributors on the disc. "We'll be working with Jacknife again, he'll always be in the Snow Patrol camp, but he has suggested we try a few other producers as well," the musician states.