Just when it looked like funk outfit Jamiroquai was set to become a distant string of dance floor anthems, the British band have announced their first new music in seven years.
Fans of the pioneering electronic act, who provided us with enduring hits such as Canned Heat and Cosmic Girl, have been sent into a frenzy after the group announced not only a new album, Automaton, but a tour across Europe and Asia – their first in six years.
More Entertainment News Videos
The 90s are back!
The band will release a new album, Automaton, In 2017.
The unexpected album announcement comes nearly 25 years after the Grammy award-winning group formed in Britain in 1992.
The band surprised fans with a 22-second teaser video on Twitter on Tuesday featuring frontman Jay Kay in a eccentric illuminated headpiece along with the caption, "Coming to a planet near you ... #Automaton."
![Jay Kay of Jamiroquai performing on the Sydney Opera House forecourt in 2002.](/web/20170121050519im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/u/k/m/m/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtujcq.png/1484813428948.jpg)
COMING TO A PLANET NEAR YOU... #AUTOMATON pic.twitter.com/XfZE8XFoo2
— Jamiroquai (@JamiroquaiHQ) January 16, 2017
Automation is Jamiroquai's eighth album and has been in the pipeline for as long as four years when drummer Derrick McKenzie revealed the group was working on another record in 2013.
In May last year, bassist Paul Turner announced on Twitter the album was done and was due out in late 2016, but the hugely-anticipated record is now expected to be released in March, followed by a small number of tour dates.
<< OFFICIAL JAMIROQUAI COMMUNICATION: >>
— Jamiroquai (@JamiroquaiHQ) January 17, 2017
NEW LIVE APPEARANCES ANNOUNCED FOR 2017:
INFO & TICKETS AT: https://t.co/lZArO8zk6Q pic.twitter.com/xKjtQPnDcf
There is no word on any dates for Australia as yet.
The boundary-pushing band has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide, with 1999's Synkronized and 2001's A Funk Odyssey both hitting number 1 in Australia and Britain.
Jamiroquai found early fame in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Japan before breaking into the US market in the late 1990s.
Their last album Rock Dust Light Star was released in November 2010 with their last tour taking in a whopping 109 dates, including a exclusive private party in a Sydney harbourside mansion.
In 1994 the group picked up four MTV Music Video Awards before collecting a Grammy for the best pop performance in 1998.
Pop songstress Katy Perry was among the thousands of fans who welcomed Jamiroquai back after their extended hiatus.
My body is ready. https://t.co/OGaSN4wbKK
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) January 18, 2017
I am so here for a Jamiroquai comeback.
— The Black Madonna (@blackmadonnachi) January 17, 2017