Arctic Monkeys have announced their long-awaited new album. Entitled The Car, the band’s seventh studio effort is due out on Friday, October 21st.
The Car features ten new songs written by frontman Alex Turner, produced by James Ford, and recorded at Butley Priory in Suffolk, RAK Studios in London, and La Frette in Paris. A press release describes the album 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.”
Earlier this year, drummer Matt Helders teased the band’s new album by saying “it kinda picks up where” 2018’s loungey 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 revealed. “But there are riffs in there and [it’s] a bit more up-tempo, even though it’s not loud.”
Ahead of today’s announcement, Arctic Monkeys debuted the song “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am” during a concert in Zurich on Tuesday night. The track is definitely in line with Helders’ description, as it finds Alex Turner belting out the song’s title a cappella style before the band kicks into a groovy, bass-heavy number.
Pre-orders for The Car are now ongoing.
In the weeks ahead, Arctic Monkeys will headline Primavera Sound Los Angeles and Life is Beautiful Festival in Las Vegas, and appear at Primavera Sound’s trio of South American festivals in Brasil, Chile, and Argentina. Grab tickets to all of their upcoming dates via Ticketmaster.
The Car Artwork:
The Car Tracklist:
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