According to a report from Billboard.com, Pete Doherty, M.I.A. and Saul Williams may collaborate on Mongrel’s first album.
The former bassist from Arctic Monkeys, Andy Nicholson, now belongs to Mongrel. Nicholson left the Arctic Monkeys in 2006, and is teaming up with Matt Helders, the former Monkeys drummer, who is also leaving the group for Mongrel.
Other members making up the Mongrel band include Jon McClure and Joe Moskow, from the group Reverend and the Makers, Drew McConnell from Babyshambles, and rapper Lowkey.
McClure described Mongrel’s untitled album as an incendiary mix of hip-hop, dance and rock with a strong political message. He explained, "I’m the singer, Lowkey raps and then we’ve got a few features from other people. We had Saul Williams come in and do a thing on it and hopefully M.I.A. is going to do something and maybe Pete Doherty. It’s got a good flavor."
The band is in the recording process at Deep Street Studio in London. The band will appear on the music scene later this year, and their album is expected to be released at the end of 2008.