Kelly Jones wrote the new Stereophonics album alone.

The 35-year-old singer worked with a producer to write the songs for the band's seventh album 'Keep Calm and Carry On' after group songwriting sessions failed to get results.

Kelly explained to The Independent newspaper: "We weren't having the time of our lives. We were making the record by taking it away and listening to it more than was actually playing."

Instead the singer, who released a solo album in 2007, sought out producer Jim Abbiss, who has worked with Bjork and Adele.

He said: "The band were trying to emulate things that were already done, catching the spontaneity of the demos, which was really frustrating."

Stereophonics' last album, 'Pull the Pin', was slated by critics, but Jones says the shock was needed.

He explained: "It gave us a reality check. We knew we had to continue to work hard to keep this thing moving."

While Jones is happy with the results, the band - also consisting of Richard Jones, Javier Weyler and Adam Zindani - took convincing.

Kelly explained: "In many ways it was an uncomfortable process. People had to sit back and listen rather than say 'let's get on with it'.

'Keep Calm and Carry On' is released on November 16.