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Warring brothers Ray and Dave Davies are back in the studio recording new material as the The Kinks.

Ray announced he was reforming the band last year, and now Dave has confirmed the siblings and their original drummer Mick Avory have been hard at work on new songs and unreleased tracks.

He tells Rolling Stone that work on an upcoming 50th anniversary reissue of the group's 1969 album Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) is "virtually done."

"It's a really, really interesting package that's going to have other songs from that time period, like Hold My Hand," he adds.

"We keep going backwards and listening to a lot of old stuff. Some of that is very good, and some of it needs a bit of work. Some we recorded but never used. Others don't have finished vocals or they need other embellishments."

And he's very impressed with new songs his brother has written for the band: "They are really just in demo form now, but good demos," he tells the publication.

Davies also confirms Avory is a big part of the reunion, even though he has been replaced on drums by Bob Henrit, and the trio haven't hired a permanent bassist to replace the late Pete Quaife and Jim Rodford, who died last year.

He insists there's no rush as there are no plans to tour.

"It's (tour) not out of the question, but at this stage, it's far too early to say," he explains. "It would be fun though, wouldn't it?"