Portland, OR-based experimental folk band Blitzen Trapper [ tickets ], after finishing up a tour with Sub Pop labelmates Fleet Foxes, are set to resume work on the follow-up to 2008's critically acclaimed "Furr."

Blitzen Trapper singer/guitarist/producer Eric Earley said the new material is never out of mind. While on the road to California for the final dates of the tour, he described the new songs as similar to "Furr" in that they cover "a lot of different ground."

"There's country. There's hard-rock stuff. There' s some piano ballads with strings,"he said during a recent phone interview with LiveDaily. "It's hard for me to [compare it to the rest of the catalog] because I have a lot of different things going on. There's rock and folk music, so the new record will be like that. We'll see."

Earley said the band is halfway through the new album, which is being co-produced by Earley and "Furr" engineer Mike Coykendall. But he and the rest of the group--Erik Menteer (guitar/keyboard), Brian Adrian Koch (drums/vocals), Michael VanPelt, (bass), Drew Laughery (keyboards) and Marty Marquis (guitar, keyboards, vocals)--had to stop working on it for the tour.

"I don't really write [songs] on the road," Earley said. "It's pretty much impossible. I write novels, though. I'm always writing on the road, but not music."

He said he doesn't have a name for the new album yet, and probably won't think of one until the collection is wrapped up.

"I usually don't do that until it's done and the songs are chosen," Earley said. "When I make a record, I usually record a bunch of songs. Right now, there's probably 15 to 20 songs and I'll probably pick 10 of those or 12. The rest will be there for whatever--for the next record or B-sides or 7 inches. It depends."

Earley said he expects to finish the album in May and June ,and follow that up with tours of the US and Europe.

"The album may not come out this year," said Earley, who added he has been listening to a lot of gangsta rap lately. "Originally, we were going to have it come out in the fall, but I don't know if that's going to happen now."