Kinks leader's solo album gets personal

NEW YORK, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Veteran British rocker Ray Davies says his second solo album, "Working Man's Cafe," is more personal than his first.

Davies, the longtime leader of the Kinks, says the songs he chose for the new album come from a different place than those on 2006's "Other People's Lives" -- his first-ever full-length solo album.

"It's about getting back in touch with yourself as a person," Davies said. "It is more about me, 'cause 'Other People's Lives' tends to be, 'Oh, this is about other people; it really is me, but I'm trying to sing about other people.'

"But ('Working Man's Cafe') is more personal than I thought it was. It's mentality rather than a geographical or tangible thing. It's a philosophy, really."

Davies plans to tour in support of "Working Man's Cafe" but hasn't set dates yet. He's also floated the possibility of reuniting the Kinks' original lineup but is waiting for his brother, guitarist Dave Davies, to recover further from a stroke he suffered in 2004.