As Arctic Monkeys gear up to release long-awaited sixth album ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’, Sony boss Guy Moot has revealed that it’s “another masterpiece”.
The new album is due out on May 11 and will be the band’s first release in almost five years.
Speaking to Music Week, Moot – who’s Sony’/ATV Music Publishing’s President of Worldwide Creative – said: “There are few releases in the calendar year that I would call an event; when the Monkeys release a record, it’s an event.
“It’s the sort of record people will stop their day to listen to it and rush to their streaming accounts or however they consume it. It’s a big event for the UK music industry.
“It’s an on-going chapter and I think [Alex Turner’s] just written another masterpiece, which solidifies him once more as one of the great UK songwriters. I don’t think they need to set targets or achievements, people will climb on board.”
“With this new album, when I heard it, it’s a record of incredible intricacy that, if you’re a fan, you’re just going to want to get deeper and deeper into it, you can find different meanings, lyrically you can delve deeper and deeper,” he continued.
“There are just incredible moments, incredible arrangements, incredible playing, it’s very important for UK music this year.”
Speaking about the band’s decision not to drop any singles before the album release, Moot said:
“Sometimes in this day and age, less is more. This is a hugely anticipated record and the waiting will make it even more exciting come May 11. The great thing about the way they’re going to release the album is you’re going to listen to it as a body of work.
“You are going to enjoy it for how it was made with a concept running all the way through it.”
Meanwhile, the band recently revealed that their upcoming album was almost a solo record for Alex Turner.
“I think at first, because it was quite basic – piano, vocal and no guitar – Al was in two minds about, ‘is this Arctic Monkeys or am I going somewhere else with this’,” guitarist Jamie Cook said.
“And maybe at first I was a bit like that as well. It’s not definitely not a guitar-heavy record, not typically what we’d do. It took a lot more thinking about.”
Head here for all of Arctic Monkeys’ live dates in 2018.