WITH melodies that tug at the heart strings and emotionally-charged ballads, Manchester trio I Am Kloot are among the North West’s best kept secrets.

The band have built up a cult following and tomorrow night they headline the Ramsbottom Festival — an event which bassist Pete Jobson is particularly looking forward to.

“We’ve done a few festivals around Europe this summer but this one’s much closer to home,” said Pete.

The band’s last album Sky At Night was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and fans have been waiting two years for a follow-up.

“We’re hoping the new one will be out in February next year,” said Pete. Like Sky at Night, the new album will be produced by Guy Garvey and Craig Potter from Elbow.

“It’s been great for us to have Guy and Craig working with us,” said Pete. “We’ve never been perfectionists when it comes to the studio, for us it was all about touring and playing live.

“But with Guy and Craig, it’s having someone forcing you to sit down and think more about it and the results spoke for themselves.”

Singer John Bramwell is the main songwriter with Pete and drummer Andy Hargreaves adding their own touches to evolve the songs.

“I just love John’s songwriting,” said Pete. “He is an instintictive writer, he can just sit down and these wonderful songs just come out and they very rarely nead any revision. It’s a great gift.”