Liam Howlett, the studio mastermind behind the popular electronica band the Prodigy, is back behind the boards, slicing beats and uncovering samples for a new album, the group's manager said Friday (Feb. 18).

The disc will be the Prodigy's first since their controversial 1997 breakthrough, The Fat of the Land.

"Liam is recording," manager Mike Champion said, through a spokesperson for the band's U.S. label, Maverick. "They're making great inroads toward the next album."

But talk of song titles or release dates is premature, Maverick's Heidi Ellen Robinson said.

Champion said Prodigy dancer Leeroy Thornhill was taking "poetic license" in a recent interview with the British music magazine New Musical Express. Thornhill was quoted as saying Howlett had already completed one track for an upcoming disc and was working on others.

The aggressive dance sounds of The Fat of the Land, coupled with a live show that was more rock spectacle than DJ set, made the Prodigy one of the most successful electronica outfits of the '90s, particularly in the U.S., where audiences have been slow to embrace dance music. The English band's third album since forming in 1990 shipped more than 2 million copies, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

The Prodigy — which also includes MCs Keith Flint and Maxim Reality (born Keeti Palmer) — courted controversy with the disc's lead-off track, "Smack My Bitch Up" (RealAudio excerpt). The song, which samples a vintage lyric from rapper Kool Keith's days in the Ultramagnetic MC's, drew criticism from the Beastie Boys, the National Organization for Women and others.

Last year, Howlett released a compilation album. Prodigy Present the Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One featured eight DJ collages (RealAudio excerpt of untitled mix) of work by bands, including the Beasties, Public Enemy, Fatboy Slim and the Chemical Brothers.