Futureheads 'Challenge' Themselves With A Cappella Album

If bassist David "Jaff" Craigs of the Futureheads seems a little more energetic than the rest of the Sunderland, England, bunch, it's because he's on a major health kick -- no alcohol and a strict meat-free diet.

"Jaff either tends to be an animal or kind of a monk, so he's in the monk mode. No booze for Jaff," frontman Barry Hyde explains to Spinner. "He's actually gone vegan for this trip. He's managed to have one meal -- a bowl of oats."

The one-meal thing is a joke, but Craig is known for being able to truly dedicate himself to something he's passionate about. Case in point: He ran the London Marathon earlier this year.

"He's doing great," Hyde says of how his pal's been doing on their current tour. "He's the type of guy with the willpower that can easily do that."

Collectively, the band -- Hyde, Craig, guitarist and singer Ross Millard and drummer Dave Hyde -- has been concentrating on sorting out arrangements for their upcoming a cappella album. The group has been using their downtime to arrange a number of their songs into the vocals-only album they hope to release early next year.

Already arranged are 'Heartbeat Song' and 'Meantime,' and they are currently working on 'Skip to the End,' 'Fallout,' 'Robot,' 'Man Ray,' 'Carnival Kids' and 'First Day.'

"There's only going to be four sounds heard on this album. Essentially, we're trying to make the most of what our voices can do and it's going to actually expand our abilities because we're going to have to work out ways to create different tones between us," Hyde explains.

One inspiration is the Bobby McFerrin style, "where you kind of hit your body, use your body as a kind of echo chamber type thing," Hyde says. "We're enjoying it."

And luckily for the band, between the four men, they have a host of notes on the scale to choose from.

"Between us we have the full range. Between us we make one complete man," Hyde says, laughing. "Me and Ross are going to do bass and I can do mid and a bit higher, our Dave sings incredibly high falsetto, Jaff's got a very high voice. It works well, the four voices together."

But not everything is simple.

"It is a challenge," the singer admits. "It's the hardest thing I've ever tried to do."