Portishead are to record their third studio album in Australia. Speaking exclusively to bristolsound.co.uk, Adrian Utley said that he and Beth Gibbons will be flying out to join Geoff Barrow, who is already in Sydney, very early in the new year.

The decision to record in Australia came about when Adrian and Geoff visited Oz together last March. ?It?s a really nice place,? said Adrian. ?We decided to go back and record there because we don?t need an expensive studio to work in. We?ve got a lot of equipment ourselves.

?Last time we went to Ridge Farm which was really, really expensive and we didn?t use a hundredth of the facilities they?ve got there. So we thought we?d go to nice places to work, instead of just another studio in another part of England. And it should be nice and warm.?

So, outside the miserable rainy confines of the UK, will all that sunshine come shining through on the next Portishead album? ?Christ I don?t know,? laughed Adrian. ?It?d be good, but I don?t know.?

After the hectic schedule that came with their last album, a refreshing change is just what the band need. ?Towards the end of touring last time we were all pretty fucked up and we?d had enough of Portishead,? said Adrian . ?But it?s going to be nice to start again. I?m looking forward to working with Geoff. We?ve done stuff together but we haven?t really sat down and stared at each other for a while. We?ve got a few ideas, but we haven?t got specific in any way. We?ll just see what happens.?

But whatever the outcome, Portishead are hoping to work a lot faster than on previous occasions. ?It took us two years to do the last album,? said Adrian. ?But I hope we?ll get this one done before the end of next year.?

Portishead?s Adrian Utley is the latest Bristol musician to launch an attack on the appalling state of UK music right now, alongside Nick Warren and Jody Wisternoff from Way Out West and Massive Attack?s Robert Del Naja.

Speaking exclusively to bristolsound.co.uk Adrian said, ?I can?t believe that people are listening to stuff by bands like Westlife and Steps. It sounds like Radio Two music to me. It?s horrible and totally offensive and old granny music. I just don?t get it. What are we, a country full of middle aged teenagers??

Adrian went on to say that the only decent release he rates from recent months is Polly Jean Harvey?s ?Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea? and blamed society and the music industry in general for the current lull in creativity. ?We don?t seem to have a society with any fight left,? he sighed. ?It?s like everybody?s fucking complacent or something. I?ve no idea what it is, but we haven?t got any kind of anger bursting out of people and the commercial side of the music industry seems to be utterly puerile and complacent at the moment.?

But, despite his disgust with the current charts, he does remain hopeful that things will improve. ?I think it?s a bad patch,? he said. ?And I don?t know how relevant charts are to my life anyway, but most of the boy bands and girl bands that are around at the moment are nauseating and I do find it utterly, utterly depressing.?

Way Out West?s slating comments came during a video interview with nme.com, where they accused the British club scene of being far too commercial. Nick Warren even said that he?d rather DJ, ?anywhere else in the world? apart from the UK.

And speaking via Massive Attack?s website Robert Del Naja said, ?I?m quite happy to be releasing nothing at the moment because music seems so dire. It?s really piss poor out there. I remember catching the Top 20 the other day and just being completely aghast at how bad it actually was. I?d hate to see Massive Attack sandwiched between that lot. It just disgusts me.?