Arctic Monkeys have returned at last.
Straight off the back of headlining Rock en Seine in Paris, then Leeds, then Reading festival, the Sheffield band released their first single in four years in the early hours of Tuesday morning (30 August) entitled “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball”.
It’s the first track from their forthcoming seventh studio album The Car, following on from 2018’s Tranquility Base & Casino and 2013’s AM.
Naturally, fans were overjoyed by the band’s return and heaped praise on the song’s heady, jazz-infused sound.
“‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’ has solved all my life problems suddenly i have my future planned out suddenly my insecurities have disintegrated suddenly i am mentally well suddenly i am healed,” one fan raved on Twitter.
“‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’ is further proof arctic monkeys are the masters of changing up their sound. reminiscent of leonard cohen. cinematic for sure,” tweeted another.
Others complimented the music video, which was directed by lead singer Alex Turner. “The visuals for there’d better be a mirrorball are absolutely stunning,” a fan wrote.
The Car will feature 10 new songs written by Turner and made with the band’s regular producer James Ford.
According to a press release, The Car 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”.
In an interview with The Big Issue, Turner spoke about how the record may compare to the intergalactic sound of their latest release.
“On this record, sci-fi is off the table. We are back to earth”, Turner told the publication.
He continued: “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.”
Read the album’s full track list here.
The Car is due for release in October.
