Has a new Arctic Monkeys album been casually revealed?

Virgin Radio

16 Aug 2021, 12:04

Arctic Monkeys. Picture credit: Getty Images

It’s been over three years since Arctic Monkeys last released an album, so you would expect an announcement regarding a new record to be delivered with a bang. However, news of a possible new LP from the Sheffield band has actually been let slip, somewhat bizarrely, in a now-deleted blog post by a former 14th Century monastery in Suffolk!

One-time gatehouse to an Augustinian monastery, and now a popular wedding venue, Butley Priory put a post on their website, saying, “We’ve had a band staying with us for the last month recording an album. Musicians love the acoustics in the Great Hall and Drawing Room, with their huge vaulted ceilings.”

The post went on to say, “Being serenaded while watering and weeding the garden, listening to the double bass, drums and piano wafting out of the open double doors, was pretty nice.”

At this point, the identity of the band that had been recording at the venue remained intriguingly secret, but nobody was left in any doubt as to who had been using the facilities, when the post ended with, “Thank you, Arctic Monkeys.”

Then, just to double-clarify, they added a picture of the band!

The venue deleted the blog post, but not before some eagle-eyed Arctic Monkeys fans had spotted it and shared it on social media.

Twitter users were obviously very excited about a potential follow-up to 2018's Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.

One said, “Butley Priory have no idea what they've dropped there.”

Another commented on the instruments mentioned in the blog, saying, “Double bass is interesting, and they're keeping the piano, the sound of this next album is gonna be sweet.”

Elsewhere on Twitter, a recent photo has emerged, showing the band together, which has further heightened anticipation that album number seven is indeed on its way.

We’ll await a proper announcement from Arctic Monkeys regarding this potential new album, but for now we can all be grateful to the Butley Priory blog for giving fans such an amazing scoop!