This year marks 15 years since the Arctic Monkeys first formed, but it also marks four years since we last saw a new album from the band. However, a new interview with the group has confirmed we won’t have to be waiting too much longer for the group’s highly-anticipated sixth record.

According to an interview with motorcycle magazine For The Ride, Arctic Monkeys’ bassist Nick O’Malley discussed the group’s new album, letting slip that the band is looking at a release date of 2018, going on to state that “if it isn’t, we’ve got problems”.

For The Ride also confirmed that the group began recording their sixth album this month in “a secret location”, so while any further news on the new record is currently pretty sparse, it’s definitely more news than we’ve had in a very long time.

As triple j notes, a passing mention of the new record surfaced last year when the band was photographed together in Sheffield. Captioned with the hashtag #AM6, this was the first indication that the group were indeed working on new material.

Of course, since 2014, the group have been on a hiatus of sorts, choosing not to tour or record for a while, however members of the band have remained active with Alex Turner returning to The Last Shadow Puppets to record the group’s first record in eight years, while drummer Matt Helders performed on Iggy Pop’s Post Pop Depression album last year.

So while we’re still going to have to wait a little while to find out just when the Arctic Monkeys’ new record is coming our way, and when we’ll receive the very first taste, we can definitely rest assured knowing that new music from the group will indeed be coming sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, check out the group’s most recent single, ‘Snap Out Of It’, below.

YouTube VideoPlay

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine