Alex Turner: “I would have called AM ‘Arctic Monkeys’ if we didn’t have such a ridiculous name”

Alex Turner has told Uncut that he would have made the new Arctic Monkeys album self-titled, if the group didn’t have “such a ridiculous name”.

The frontman, speaking in the new issue of Uncut, dated October 2013 and out on Wednesday (August 28), said that the band instead shortened the name to AM, as it felt like it summed up the early morning vibe of the album.

“It sort of feels right where we should be,” Turner says. “It’s a new sound that we haven’t made before, so it kind of made sense to self-title it. Which I would have done, if we didn’t have such a ridiculous name.”

AM, which is reviewed in the new issue of Uncut, is the band’s fifth album and is released on September 9.