Is the world ready for Chris Martin on the bongos?

In a series of Web posts, the Coldplay frontman and his mates have said that their forthcoming album--the follow-up to 2005's smash hit X&Y--will have a Hispanic tinge to it.

"The sights, sounds and flavors of Latin America and Spain have definitely been infused on this album," the band wrote. "The band visited Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Mexico earlier this year. [Chris] then came up with the idea of recording in Spain. The music and lyrics have begun to reflect the strengthening Hispanic theme."

But despite the Spanish influence on the recording process, which is being overseen by legendary producer Brian Eno, Coldplay promised that they won't be breaking out the flamenco guitar and bongos.

"No maracas or castanets," they wrote, "but a vibrancy and colorfulness that owes much to the atmosphere of Buenos Aires and Barcelona. The effect is subtle but important."

The band apparently spent quite a bit of time recording in churches in Spain, setting up with only "an acoustic guitar, a couple of mics, a laptop, and some headphones" and "playing at the feet of archangels."

The group also employed group singing, with all four members and Eno singing around one mic.

"It's an odd scene: a host of saints look down impassively upon four unkempt band members, circled around a single mic stand, singing loudly together as recorded guitars reverberate around the church," the band wrote.

The new album, of which at least one track Martin has dubbed "genius," is expected to hit stores sometime in 2008. The band has been recording it off and on for much of the past year, despite a brief miscommunication about a possible hiatus that was quickly refuted and caused a sharp drop in the stock of EMI, the parent company of Coldplay's label Capitol Records.