Arctic Monkeys are back. New album The Car, their first since 2018, will be out on Domino Records on October 21. The Car is Arctic Monkeys’ seventh studio album. The previous six all got to number one in the UK. And at least two – 2006 debut Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not and 2013’s AM – were the definitive albums of their age. Turner hasn’t spoken about The Car before. But for 90 minutes, we hear his thoughts on the new release, his 20-year journey with Arctic Monkeys and Sheffield Wednesday’s Scottish football star Barry Bannan.
Martin Compston: Does it feel like 20 years ago when you started the band? Does it seem distant?
Alex Turner: It probably does feel about 20 years ago. But that’s an interesting one, isn’t it? Because sometimes you feel like you could walk through a door and be right back there.
MC: It’s 20 years since my first film came out [Sweet Sixteen, directed by Ken Loach]. I went to a screening of it – looking at that 17-year-old kid, I don’t recognise that voice. But there are moments I can connect to so clearly. It’s mad how you can feel so far away but also so close.
I’m trying to scratch a little bit of that feeling we are describing here on the new record. It feels like a long time ago, but it can be right behind you. Something reminds you and it takes you back. There’s a lyric on that says, “I could pass for 17 if I
