Resident Seattle rock star Dave Matthews, who performs Friday night at KeyArena following a "dialogue" with the Dalai Lama about peace and compassion, is working on a new album with the Dave Matthews Band.

"I've been working here in Seattle on some new music with the band," Matthews said in a phone interview Thursday about the "Seeds of Compassion" show at KeyArena.

"We've been sitting in a circle for the first time in years, just all of us facing each other and building songs together. I'm amazed. I don't know how the hell I ended up with this gang, but at least musically we seem to be getting along. Whether people like the new music or not, that much is an amazing achievement for me, how intuitively connected we are at this point."

Multi-instrumentalist Tim Reynolds, who performs with Matthews at KeyArena, is working with the band on the new, as-yet untitled album. It's the first time Reynolds has recorded with the group since "Before These Crowded Streets" in 1998.

"We've been having a blast, an absolute blast together," Matthews said.

"All sorts of things make us go in different paths, but I've always gotten as much of Tim as I possibly could in my life. I feel I'm getting spoiled at the moment and I'm glad for it. I think I can speak for everyone in the band when I say we're all really happy that Tim's got the time for us and we have the space for him."

A release date for the album hasn't been set.

"We're trying to make some beautiful music, and we don't want a deadline," Matthews said. "We're going to take our own sweet time."