Portishead struggle with new songs

Portishead find it "hell" making music.

Geoff Barrow, instrumentalist for the English group - who are also made up of singer Beth Gibbons and guitarist Adrian Utley - revealed the three-piece group find it tough to create tracks because they are not a "traditional" band.

He said: "It [making music] generally is hell because we're not a band in the traditional sense. Our musical set-up and history are really odd."

Despite the band's different tastes in music, 54-year-old Adrian has always been able to talk to Geoff about creativity.

He explained to the Observer newspaper: "Geoff has always been one of the few people I talk to creatively in a certain way.

"When I met him we vibed on each other even though there was an age difference and musical difference, and that hasn't really gone. Portishead is a world where I know exactly what's going on, and somehow it's almost like it's the real world and everything else is playtime."

The Bristol-based band - whose last album 'Third' was released in 2008 - are set to curate and perform at the I'll Be Your Mirror festival at London's Alexandra Palace, which takes place between 23-24 July.