Noah and The Whale have revealed that they have started writing material for their fourth studio album.

The indie-folk quintet, who last night kicked off their UK & Ireland tour at Edinburgh's HMV Picturehouse, told XFM Manchester DJ Tim Cocker that they hope to release the record in early 2013.

Frontman Charlie Fink said: "There's a few exciting bits. The last two months have been trying to figure out exactly what we want the record to be and what we want the sound to be but a few songs have popped up already and it's very exciting.

"The first few months of this year we started writing again. The plan is hopefully beginning of next year to have something out. It's work in progress at the moment."

The band’s last album, ‘Last Night On Earth,’ shifted over 260,000 copies last year, more than Arctic Monkeys' ‘Suck It And See,' Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘I’m With You’ and The Vaccines’ ‘What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?,’ to become the ninth biggest-selling rock album of 2011 in the UK.