British sweethearts the Arctic Monkeys have finally announced their new album after nearly five years. Better yet, it’s just around the corner — the Sheffield four-piece will be putting out their seventh full-length studio package, The Car, on October 21st.
Earlier this year, drummer Matt Helders said that the forthcoming album “kinda picks up where” 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino left off. “I mean, it’s never gonna be like [the band’s 2012 single] ‘R U Mine?’ and all that stuff again, you know, the heavy riffs and stuff,” he said. “But there are riffs in there and [it’s] a bit more up-tempo, even though it’s not loud.”
Frontman Alex Turner, on the other hand, said that the new record is “louder this time.” Considering the last album fell flat, this vision might be more beneficial for the group considering the high success rate of their harder material.
Prior to today’s announcement, the Arctic Monkeys debuted a new song titled “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am” during a concert in Zurich on last night. The track fits Helders’s description — Turner opened the song a cappella style before the rest of the group joined it and carried the vocals into a groovy, bass-heavy number. (Consequence)
The Car features ten new songs written by Turner and produced by James Ford, described in a press release as “running wild in a new and sumptuous musical landscape and contain[ing] some of the richest and most rewarding vocal performances of Turner’s career.”
The tracklist is as follows:
01. There’d Better Be A Mirrorball
02. I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am
03. Sculptures Of Anything Goes
04. Jet Skis On The Moat
05. Body Paint
06. The Car
07. Big Ideas
08. Hello You
09. Mr Schwartz
10. Perfect Sense
Photo Credit: Marisa Ficara