Co-founding Franz Ferdinand guitarist Nick McCarthy has exited the lineup in advance of the band's next album and tour.

The group announced McCarthy's departure via social media, explaining that a desire to remain close to home prompted his decision — and offering a ray of hope for fans by adding that his absence may not last forever.

"When we record and tour, it takes a long, full-time commitment lasting a minimum of a year and a half, most of which is spent away from home," reads the announcement. "Nick has a young family and does not want to be away from them for such a long period."

Saying they look forward to hearing what McCarthy gets up to musically during his time away from Franz Ferdinand, the group described the split as "not necessarily a permanent situation" and quipped, "We'd love to be able to say this is a result of personal or musical differences, but it's not. Those differences are what we formed the band around in the first place."

McCarthy added his own thanks to the fans, calling them an "inspiration" and writing, "What an amazing time it has been. I'm going to concentrate on production and writing some completely different things for a bit and we can all look forward to hearing the new Franz Ferdinand album."

The group's upcoming LP will mark the first proper Franz Ferdinand release since Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action in 2013. Last year, the band teamed up with the pop duo Sparks to form a new group, dubbed FFS; their self-titled effort broke the Top 20 in the U.K. and peaked at No. 22 in the U.S.

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