Four years have passed since Arctic Monkeys released AM, their fifth album and the one on which they seemed to complete the transition from teenage NME buzz band to gods of rock ‘n’ roll. In the interim, frontman Alex Turner revived his side project the Last Shadow Puppets, but the Arctic Monkeys proper have been so quiet that fans have had to subsist on news about Turner’s facial hair and karaoke exploits. Fortunately that’s about to change. The Guardian points out that bassist Nick O’Malley revealed to the motorcycle website For The Ride that the band has finally begun recording on its sixth LP in a secret location. O’Malley says the album will be out next year: “If it isn’t, we’ve got problems.”

So, any ideas where this is going down? The safest bet is probably Josh Homme’s studio out in California, but it would be pretty cool if they were recording in the actual Arctic.