Arctic Monkeys have announced the arrival of their seventh studio album, The Car, which is set for release on October 21 via Domino.
The Car serves as the follow-up to 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, and was produced by James Ford. It was recorded at Butley Priory in Suffolk, La Frette in Paris, and in RAK Studios in London.
Speaking of the forthcoming 10-track project, frontman Alex Turner told the Big Issue: "On this record [The Car], sci-fi is off the table. We are back to earth.
“I think we’ve got closer to a better version of a more dynamic overall sound with this record. The strings on this record come in and out of focus and that was a deliberate move and hopefully everything has its own space. There’s time the band comes to the front and then the strings come to the front.”
Turner additionally reveals how the new material is reminiscent of the Sheffield indie band's sound when they were just starting out in 2002, adding that the album feels "like it’s connected to us 20 years ago in the garage when it was pure instinct.
“You have to follow your instincts in the same way you did in the first place,” he continues.
“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.”
According to a press release, the album “finds Arctic Monkeys running wild in a new and sumptuous musical landscape and contains some of the richest and most rewarding vocal performances of Alex Turner‘s career”.
The Car tracklist:
1. There’d Better Be A Mirrorball
2. I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am
3. Sculptures Of Anything Goes
4. Jet Skis On The Moat
5. Body Paint
6. The Car
7. Big Ideas
8. Hello You
9. Mr Schwartz
10. Perfect Sense
