Arctic Monkeys are appearing to be making a massive comeback after not releasing any new music since their 2022 LP The Car.
The indie rock legends, comprising of Alex Turner, Matt Helders, Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O’Malley, have been on hiatus from playing live since 2023.
Back in May at the Music Week Awards, the band sparked speculation of a reunion when frontman Alex appeared on stage to present their manager Ian McAndrew with The Strat Award.
And now, eagle-eyed fans have spotted that the group’s official website removed the album cover of The Car and a new page for a Newsletter appeared.
On Wednesday (August 6), the band members – also including Matt Helders, Jamie Cook, and Nick O’Malley – launched a new record company, BANG BANG RECORDINGS LLP, which appeared on Companies House.
Arctic Monkeys have not performed since concluding their last tour in support of their seventh album, The Car, in Dublin in 2023.
Arctic Monkeys have teased a massive comeback after not releasing any new music since their 2022 LP The Car
Since then, no band member has released solo material, and they’ve all kept relatively low profiles.
However, Nick played with touring guitarist Tom Rowley at the latter’s first headline solo date at Crookes Social Club in Sheffield in June.
The band’s most recent albums have seen them head more in a rock direction.
The Hives frontman Pelle Almqvist shared his opinion on their genre change and insisted they should carry on making the music that ‘feels right’ to them.
Asked about their polarising albums, he told Music Week: ‘I think they should do what feels right. I think everything they’ve done has been good, it’s just different genres.
‘I can see that someone who loved the first album maybe isn’t into the last album and vice-versa, but who gives a s***?
‘They’re doing what they feel like they should be doing and that’s all there is to it. I like all their stuff, basically.’
It comes after Glastonbury festivalgoers were left disappointed by the Arctic Monkeys headline set in 2023 as they heaped criticism on the band for slowing down their smash hits.
It comes after Glastonbury festivalgoers were left disappointed by the Arctic Monkeys headline set in as they heaped criticism on the band for slowing down their smash hits (pictured in 2023)
The band played the hotly-anticipated 90-minute headlining slot, but fans were left underwhelmed by the show, with one person even seen yawning in the audience.
Lead singer Alex belted out a whole host of the Arctic Monkeys smash hits, including Mardy Bum and R U Mine, but the crowds were left confused and wondering what the ‘hell was going on’ with the band.
For many of the band’s big hitters, Alex – who has recently recovered from acute laryngitis, sang the tracks at a much slower tempo than the upbeat originals, with fans complaining that it made it difficult to sing along.
The rock band took to the stage hours after a surprise show from The Foo Fighters, who put on an incredible performance for the festival’s hour-long ‘secret’ slot, with several claiming that they should have headlined Friday’s show.
Both festivalgoers and fans watching the BBC live broadcast slammed the headlining set as ‘boring’ and ‘mediocre’ and complained that they had been left ‘disappointed’ by the gig.
Taking to X, one fan wrote: ‘I fell in love with the Arctic Monkeys because of the energy and excitement in the songs. That performance was too slow for me, still some bangers played though.’
Another said: ‘Too slow, not engaging the crowd…not great,’ while a third complained: ‘Why slow even your slowest song down??? Sorry I’ve always loved the Arctic Monkeys but can’t cope with that.’
A fourth tweeted: ‘Awful performance, what the hells going on with them?! Glad I didn’t get tickets to any of their gigs this time around.’
A fifth shared: ‘I’m really disappointed with Arctic Monkeys. It all seems very slow, that excitement of the first album is gone. It’s like the Arctic Monkeys Jazz Lounge.’
‘It’s like they want people to hate them. Like a mediocre lounge band covering arctic monkeys’ moaned another.
However, some fans gave their support to the band and praised their performance, saying the band’s style has simply evolved over the years.
