SELF-STYLED ‘evil pop’ group The Scaramanga Six are set to release their latest album this month.

Songs of Prey offers all you might expect from the Scaramanga Six – dark, brooding, witty pop rock.

But for this record, the band have slimmed down to a foursome, creating a more sparse and bleak arrangement than usual.

But the 12 songs and two instrumentals on Songs of Prey have not lost the grandiose bombast the ‘Six’ are famous for.

The album is out from April 20, on independent label Wrath Records.

It is their sixth studio album, but only the fifth to be released.

Its predecessors lies unfinished, as the band await the return of their long-time producer Tim Smith, who started the recording but has been suffering ill health.

To record Songs of Prey, producer James Kenosha stepped in to the breach.

For a sneak preview of Songs of Prey, fans can hear six tracks on the band’s website now, www.myspace.com/thescaramangasix

The full album will be available from most music retailers and online and can be pre-ordered at www.jumborecords.co.uk, www.normanrecords.com, www.roughtrade.com, www.actionrecords.co.uk and www.rhythmonline.co.uk.

Albums will also be available from gigs on the band’s forthcoming tour, which calls at the Parish in Huddersfield on June, where some of the band members will also perform in their other incarnation – The Eureka Machines. For a full list of dates, check out their Myspace.