AceShowbiz -

Rock band Hanson have revealed that they are working on their new album, the follow up to the 2007 "The Walk". The three brothers are still pretty much inspired by their charity venture to Africa last year, which was also the mastermind behind "The Walk", and are planning similar approach on their new set.

The band visited the poverty-stricken areas in South Africa and Mozambique to help raising awareness on AIDS, give out proper shoes for the kids, and also donated proceeds from the sales of single "Great Divide" to AIDS treatment and research. The experience has somehow settled in that it drove them to lean on more serious things for their music.

"You're always trying to do new things," guitarist and the eldest brother Isaac Hanson told Billboard.com. "We're actively writing our next album, and the issues of poverty and Africa in generally have really opened an opportunity to even more actively write music that is more sensitive to those kinds of stories."

"It's always important that you write a song that's got a good hook; we have no qualms about that," he continued. "But certainly these next few years will definitely expose further more of the 'Great Divide' type of things, some of those types of messages throughout our music."

Hanson will participate in South by Southwest festival this week that will be broadcast on DirectTV's "SXSW Live" at 8 P.M. on Thursday, March 13. "Now we get to do a real showcase and we can actually get into the bars," Isaac added. "It's going to be a lot of fun, and I think South By Southwest is still a really good event. I think it does have a lot of value for bands trying to get things going, to either increase awareness of their band or launch some initiatives. We're looking forward to it."