On January 22, 2026, Arctic Monkeys released their first new music since 2022 with the single “Opening Night”. Recorded for the War Child charity record Help(2), the single was an unexpected rainfall for fans during the four-year drought. Coupled with previous rumors that the band had plans to get back in the studio, things seemed promising.
However, speaking with BBC Radio 1 days later, on January 27, drummer Matt Helders revealed that they didn’t have any imminent plans for a new album. Despite the rumors, he said, that’s not something they were thinking about.
“I think we went into this knowing it was a one-off,” he said. “But then, having done it, we probably went away feeling like we just had a lot of fun making this record.” On the subject of a new album, he added, “There’s no conversations about it, but [making music is] definitely something we love to do and we’ll always do.”
Arctic Monkeys Came Together For New Single as IF No Time Had Passed At All
Helders also spoke with Zane Lowe on Apple Music around the single release. This time, he said, felt like the perfect moment for Arctic Monkeys to get together again. It’s been four years since The Car came out, and three since they concluded their tour in 2023. Meanwhile, Helders dropped some solo work last year. Overall, it sounds like just the right equation to get the Monkeys back in the studio: plenty of downtime + renewed creativity + a good cause = “Opening Night”.
Additionally, as is often the case with childhood friends, Helders said that the band picked up right where they left off. According to the drummer, it was nice to “see everyone and to fall back into the roles that we’ve always had with each other, musically and personally.”
He continued, “Sometimes we might not see each other for six months, but when we do, it’s like we were never apart. That’s just how we are with people, with each other. It translates musically as well. We just had a couple of days doing this, and it felt like nothing had happened; [that there was] no space between.”
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