Arctic Monkeys Mum Spills The Beans On New Album Plans

Last time the Arctic Monkeys gave the world a taste of what they’d been up to, it was to an audience of billions worldwide to a visual soundtrack of cyclists dressed as luminescent butterflies, performing a suitably patriotic cover of The Beatles’ ‘Come Together’ at the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony - with the band’s take of the legendary Abbey Road cut swiftly rising to the top of the UK charts.

A mite more successful than their Record Store Day exclusive from April earlier in the year, though it was no slouch in the sales stakes itself (peaking at #10), the dual-sided vinyl single of R U Mine?/Electricity was the band’s first new studio material since Suck It And See of last year.

Now reports are surfacing that the Sheffield quartet are set to begin work on album #5, and they’ve already chosen a suitably iconic location.

According to NME hearsay, the band are set to return to the famous Joshua Tree desert in California, where the band partially recorded parts of 2009 record Humbug with co-producer and Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme.

Saltshakers at the ready fans, because the speculation began thanks to a tweet from twitter fan page ArticMonkeysUS who began trending with the #ArcticMonkeys5thAlbum trending in the UK this week. While many have (sensibly and understably) questioned the fan page’s source, a reply from the account to one grilling fan simply stated:

@louisoreilly2 info comes from the top. I won’ lose sleep if u dont believe it but you cant speak to my credibility. When have i been wrong?

— Arctic Monkeys US (@ArcticMonkeysUS) September 17, 2012

If it seems dubious, some interesting news has come from an unlikely source.

In a strange case of deja vu – just as Albert Hammond Jr of The Strokes’ father broke the news of the New York band’s forthcoming record – now, the mother of Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders has spilt the beans on the band’s album plans.

Jill Helders, mother of “two amazing sons” (awww) who runs a coffee shop in Hillsborough, Sheffield called Truly Scrumptious (double naaawww), has responded the rumours by writing on her account:

https://twitter.com/trulyjill/status/247797207204524032

Followed by a tweet saying, “and now we start on 5th album titles!” Better get the fans involved if we’re to come up with something better than Humbug or Suck It And See.

The Monkeys’ newly greaser styled frontman, Alex Turner, has already told press about the band’s sonic ideas for the upcoming album. Saying, ”I think we’re going to go the direction of those heavier tunes. We did ‘R U Mine?’, and I think that’s where it’s going to be at for us for the next record.”

As usual, watch this space as news develops – or another band member’s parents give us more info.