'We felt like we could do better' - Kodaline called off tour dates to rescue third album

The Swords band revealed over the weekend that they scrapped nearly 60pc of the songs on their original recording of their impending album, Politics of Living, which is set for release on August 10.

The band took the decision to cancel 26 concert dates over October and November 2017 on their European tour, and returned to the studio to fine-tune the album, which had been expected for release last October.

"It was almost pretty much there and we came out of the studio and we weren't entirely happy with it. We felt like we could do better," said drummer Vinny May Jr.

"It's our third album so we didn't want to release just anything, we wanted to take our time on it.

"So we went back into the studio and spent the first four months of this year working on the album, writing new songs and working with different people," he told RTE Entertainment.

"We kind of scrapped the original sessions, but there are some tracks that have made it on to an album of 11 tracks.

"There's probably three or four that are from the original sessions, so a good 60pc of the album was scrapped.

"We felt like we could do better. We felt like we didn't say everything we wanted to say so we went back into the studio."

The band wrapped up recording last month.

"We finished the new album about a month ago. The vinyl is ready, all pressed, everything is all ready to go," he said.

"There is no point in releasing something that we weren't happy with."

The new album sees the band collaborate with some of the biggest names in the business at the minute, including Steve Mac - who co-wrote Ed Sheeran's hit Shape of You - Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid, and Jonny Coffer, who has worked with stars Beyonce and Rag'n'Bone Man.

The band shot to fame with singles All I Want and High Hopes.

The third album follows In a Perfect World, their debut album in 2013, and Coming Up for Air, their second in 2015.