(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Sun 28 September 2025 7:00, UK
Among some circles, there’s an audible gasp at the announcement of a new Arctic Monkeys record.
A sense of anticipation arises, stretching across the realms of excitement and fear, depending on what type of fan you are, as to just what this new record may sound like.
The most jarring was perhaps in 2018. For those who hadn’t been closely watching Alex Turner cosplay as a booze-addled lounge club singer with The Last Shadow Puppets since the release of AM, the twinkling sounds of ‘Star Treatment’ represented quite the departure. Most of us knew, during the first 30 seconds of that song, that it soundtracked a sonic passageway through which we would never return. This would most likely be the new normal from here on out.
Then, in 2022, came The Car. With little in the way of informative teasers, we could only interpret the sultry 1970s-inspired press shots as a window into a similarly slick environment that would be laden with piano melodies and led by Turner’s new big band vocal croon.
But we perhaps didn’t expect just how grand that might be. Tranquility Base and Casino was still brooding at its very heart whereas The Car opened with something slick, measured and far more cinematic. ‘There’d Better Be a Mirrorball’ was drenched in strings and opened with swing-inspired stabs, firmly placing their flag into the brown swirly shag carpet that lay below. But it wasn’t just 1970s pastiche; no, it was a considered evolution of the textured sound they had crafted on their previous album and crucially for Helders, it required an air-tight rhythm performance.
Unsurprisingly, it was this very song that platformed the entire idea of the album. The band’s drummer, and man who was resigned to the song’s more restrained position, explained, “This one was the first one I heard when Al was doing like demos and stuff, that instantly sort of got me. It became a challenge to play, it’s like a bit of a tricky one for playing live as a band to get all the parts at the beginning, to all do those weird offbeat and swung stabs all at the same time. It’s such an important part of it that it was like you know, there was no point in doing it unless we could do it right.”
It was precision over pandemonium, a rhythmic methodology many fans are still struggling to adjust to, but for Helders and the rest of the band, therein lies the fun. The creative intrigue comes less from throwing unbridled energy at a sonic idea and more from fine-tuning their individual contributions to make something more considered.
He added, “And the recording part of it was fun. That was like another one that felt like a sense of achievement once we’d like nailed it, especially the drum take. Because it’s not technically the most difficult, but just like it has to be sort of really precise.”
It’s arguably one of the most accomplished songs the band has ever penned, from the cautious melody, led by the piano, to the provocative, albeit expected, lyrical take from Turner. But once again, it proves something so many fans aren’t yet willing to admit. That the band and Helders are equally as interesting, with the physicality turned down and the precision turned up.
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