Idlewild have moved to stamp on any fears that the recent release of a best of album would mean their days as a band are numbered.

Roddy Wommble has written on the band's Myspace blog, and says that they are preparing to get to work on another studio release.

He said: "I'm of the opinion that we're getting better at describing ourselves, and writing more interesting songs the longer we go on. So no, we're not 'splitting up', the opposite in fact, we're playing Edinburgh's Hogmanay in December then getting to work on our seventh album."

Addressing the issue that recent material might not be getting the same commercial success as releases earlier on in their career, Woomble said: "The reality is that there's nothing the five of us like doing more than writing songs together and performing them. Our records might not sell as many copies as they used to (although they do sell well still) but I don't think that's because they aren't as good."

Idlewild will support Kasabian at the New Year's Eve party in Edinburgh's Princes' Street Gardens.