U.K. teen sensation 5ive arrives

TORONTO -- The first single from 5ive's next album has already been released in the U.K. and Europe, but the British boy band is in Toronto promoting its 1997 self-titled debut.

"We've spent a lot of time in America and Europe and everywhere else, so we felt that we actually needed to come over to Canada and see what it was really about," said Rich Neville on Sunday afternoon at Myth.

Neville and Sean Conion are the designated speakers for the interview, while their bandmates Scott Robinson, Abs Breen and J. Brown are playing pool in the trendy restaurant on the Danforth.

The group, which fuses rap into its funky pop, are more than half-way through completing its second album, which is due for release in the U.K. and Europe on November 1. "I think the time between both albums definitely shows," says Neville. "The second album is more written by us. It's a little bit more personal."

5ive might be contributing original ideas to the album, but producer Richard "Biff" Stannard -- who worked with 5ive on the track "Got The Feelin'" from its debut -- is also borrowing from some unusual places.

"The single that we just released in Europe a week ago is called 'If You're Getting Down' and the backing track is a sample from 'Last Night A DJ Saved My Life' and we took all the vocals off and wrote a new song over it," says Neville.

"We've also recorded a cover of 'We Will Rock You', using the chorus but changing around things. We used a similar guitar riff but sped it up a bit. And we have a song which uses the full-on orchestra from Battlestar Galactica."

5ive isn't certain which songs will end up on the new album. Conion says it'll record upwards of 30 tracks, then sit down with the record company and management. "We'll all work together and decide which are the best ones to make the best album."