Kid British give away free Northern Stories download
Ska pop seven piece Kid British are offering their latest EP for free because they "wanted to give something back to our supporters".
The band, who recently finished recording their album, have released the Northern Stories EP as a download.
Band member Simeon McLean said it was to thank the fans who have "stuck around" during the wait for the album.
Kid British released the first half of their album as an EP, titled It Was This Or Football, in July 2009.
The Northern Stories EP features four tracks which won't be included on the debut long player, three of which - Northern Quarter, Tib Street and Piccadilly Gardens - are named after Manchester areas.
Mr McLean said that the use of the place names was simply a "coincidence".
"We wanted to write a few songs about where we have come from, things we have seen growing up in Manchester," he said.
"If you write about where you come from, you're more likely to talk about landmarks and areas that you spend most of your time at."
Fans of the band on social networking site Twitter have commented that the songs sound 'darker' than the group's usual output.
Mr McLean said this wasn't the case and that the band "write about what we see".
"Our House Is Dadless [the band's 2009 single] is just as dark a topic as Tib Street; it's just the music helps you to view a broken home in a much positive light," he said.
"Everything we write about is serious; it's just that the backing tracks might take you on a different ride emotionally."
Mr McLean also explained that while the songs weren't appearing on the now-completed debut album, they do "give our supporters an insight of what to expect".
He said the band had released them ahead of the album to "give something back to our supporters, who have been patient and have stuck by us even though we haven't released anything in such a long time".
"The majority of them have been waiting for the second half of It Was This Or Football' for so long, yet they haven't just moved on, they have stuck around - so thanks for that," he said.
The Northern Stories EP is available as free download through Kid British's website