According to a posting on the Deep Purple Appreciation Society web site, DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan was interviewed by Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet ahead of the band's July 20 concert in Istanbul, and mentioned plans for a new studio LP. "I think we are ready to make another album," he said. "We've been talking about it for some time already. I think we'll start to work on it next February." He also shed light on the band's recording methods. "We go into the studio with absolutely nothing, no music or lyrics whatsoever," he said. "We sit in the kitchen, having some cup of tea, talk about families and football… Then we go into the room and play; six hours a day. After three days, some ideas begin to shape and we start to turn them into songs. To prepare the main lines takes about three weeks, to deal with lyrics, recording process and mixing also take two weeks. Since there have been many technological developments recently and we use them by recording the music in analog and mix it in digital to achieve the best result."

DEEP PURPLE's 18th studio album, "Rapture of the Deep", was released in November 2005. It is the fourth studio CD from DEEP PURPLE since guitarist Steve Morse joined the band in 1994. It was also the second album to feature veteran keyboardist Don Airey.

"Rapture of the Deep" was produced by Mike Bradford, who also worked on the band's previous release, 2003's "Bananas".