We’ve come a long long way since the days of looking good on the dance floor if the new sounds from the Arctic Monkeys are anything to go by.

Swapping their indie pop dance floor fillers for a mature sound after teaming up with stoner rock queen Josh Homme, the boys from Sheffield, UK, have never sounded so good.

The band are currently killing time in between Coachella weekends, before they hopefully pick up some more rock n roll pixie dust when they tour North America with The Black Keys.

Last year the group dropped their fourth studio album, Suck It and See, which was critically acclaimed but failed to ignite fans around the world.

It peaked at #4 here in Australia, not a bad effort, but far from the days of their debut ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ which went straight to #1 and was certified 2x Platinum.

The boys plan on heading back into the studio after the end of the tour with The Black Keys according to frontman Alex Turner, and drummer Matt Helders has hinted what fans should expect for their fifth studio album.

“The way ‘R U Mine?’ has gone we are more into doing songs like that for now,” he said. “We are kind of into the idea of doing a record that is like ‘Evil Twin’ and ‘R U Mine?’.”

In the meantime, fans will be treated to a special release of their new track ‘R U Mine?’ for Record Store Day on Saturday, which also features the brand new b-side ‘Electricity’.

“When we recorded ‘Electricity’ we recorded ‘You & I’ which was the B-side to ‘Black Treacle’ and (recorded) another one that didn’t really work out,” says drummer Matt Helders.

“It was a good song, but it didn’t fit in with ‘R U Mine?’ so ‘Electricity’ was the one that seemed to make more sense. It’s really the only thing we’ve got that nobody has heard yet that is already recorded.”

The track premiered on British radio overnight but has since leaked online. You can stream ‘Electricity’ below.

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