Arctic Monkeys announce new album “The Car” and release first track in four years
After performing a brand new song at Switzerland’s Zurich Openair festival, the band announced their anticipated seventh studio album and released their first track in four years, There’d Better Be A Mirrorball yesterday.
Photo: Andy Ford
Sheffield powerhouses Arctic Monkeys have officially announced their seventh studio album, The Car. Following rumours of the album’s completion last year (see the accidental leak of sorts here), fans have been eagerly waiting for an announcement from the source. The Car’s announcement comes following a performance of an album track, I Ain’t Quite Where I Thought I Am at Switzerland’s Zurich Openair festival. The Car, alongside the cover art and release date, were announced in a tweet on their official Twitter account on the 24th of August.
Photo: Arctic Monkeys/Domino Records
This is Arctic Monkeys’ first album since 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, and their latest project since their second live album, Live at the Royal Albert Hall.
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino was an album that caused a divided reception among fans; however, it was well received by music critics (and us). Perhaps The Car will produce a different reception amongst fans. After four years of waiting for material from the Sheffield rockers’, some fans have appeared to put their reservations aside as a trade for new music, while others are questioning whether the album will have a similar style to its predecessor.
In an interview with The Big Issue, frontman Alex Turner explains that, “[I] think we’ve got closer to a better version of a more dynamic overall sound with this record… It’s a response I’ve had to other things we’ve composed, this idea of something sounding ‘cinematic’. I never completely subscribe to it, but it’s louder this time.”
The Car sits at ten songs, with the classic Arctic Monkeys’ peculiar naming style for a few (There’d Better Be A Mirrorball, Sculptures of Anything Goes, etc). Like their previous albums, Alex Turner spearheads writing (with the exception of drummer Matt Helders helping pen I Ain’t Quite Where I Thought I Am), with production handled by longtime collaborator James Ford. The cover art was also shot by Helders, a keen photographer in his spare time.
The Car will be released on 21 October via Domino Records and is available to preorder here.