Matt Helders, drummer and backing vocalist for Arctic Monkeys, has been sharing cryptic clips on social media, hinting at new solo music. Over the past few days, he posted three videos from his studio, each captioned with a number: 'No.01', 'No.02', and 'No.03'. The clips feature low-quality footage and snippets of electronic music, suggesting a laid-back, 1990s-inspired sound.
The first clip, shared two days ago, showed a compilation of studio moments with building electronic beats. The second, posted yesterday (April 13), featured a more upbeat track. This morning's third clip begins with Helders holding up a 'No.03' label, and the audio has a glassy, playful feel consistent with the earlier posts.
If these teasers lead to a full solo album, it would be Helders' first since his 2008 Late Night Tales DJ mix. He has hinted at a solo project since 2018, saying in an interview that he wanted to create enough material to justify an album. 'I want to make a lot of music and then like, “Oh, that’s the thing I like about this”,' he said at the time.
Helders has been involved in various side projects, including Iggy Pop's Post Pop Depression band, remixes for artists like The Hives and Duran Duran, and a 2019 collaboration with Milburn's Joe Carnall. He also contributed to Arctic Monkeys' latest album, 'The Car', which received a five-star review from NME and was followed by a headline slot at Glastonbury 2023.
