In one of the few pieces of encouraging news to emerge from the music industry in late 2001, notorious perfectionists Walter Becker and Donald Fagen -- a.k.a. Steely Dan -- have entered the studio to record new material for a possible follow-up to their Grammy-winning "Two Against Nature".

"After taking time off to write a slew of new tunes, Becker and Fagen have started to record some of them in New York City and elsewhere," fans were informed in a Christmas Day message from the officially sanctioned Steely Dan newsletter.

"Will this result in a new Steely Dan album? Hard to say; scholars of Steely history know that not every studio sojourn sees the light of the marketplace".

Case in point: After going their separate ways following the disappointing "Gaucho" album, Becker and Fagen regrouped in 1986 to write some new material. Though one song, "Snowbound", would eventually surface on Fagen's 1993 solo release, "Kamakiriad", the next new Steely Dan album wouldn't appear until February 2000 -- or 14 years after their mid-'80s writing/recording session.

Meanwhile, asked about the two-year stretch the duo spent in the studio for "Two Against Nature", Becker optimistically told JAM! Music just prior to that album's release: "I imagine if we continue, in the not-too-distant future we'll benefit from the momentum we've built from the past, and it won't take us this long".

"Yeah", responded Fagen, drily, "probably only 16 or 18 months of five-day-a-week, eight-hour sessions".

(More on Steely Dan)