Turner is not all the way out of his head just yet. He sings much of The Car in a falsetto that trapezes between Sly Stone and David Byrne. The anxious melodies strike a delicate balance with the sumptuous strings. “You don’t want it to get gooey,” he reasons. “But it’s nice to get to the perimeter of that. There may have been discussions about where that line is, and how many times you can get close to it.” Fatalistic fans have already forecast the band’s demise based on the single’s valedictory lyrics, but while the album abounds with goodbyes, Turner seems full of optimism about the future. His bandmates are, too. “You can tell when they’re excited and when there’s that palpable indifference,” he says, grinning. Does he still get much of the latter? “Surely. Intermittently. I’m grateful for it sometimes.” He drifts off again with a dreamy look, zeroing in on the right turn of phrase. “Between the band and James Ford …” he begins, unhappy with the imperfect words he has found. “I can’t do it on my own, I guess is what I’m trying to say.” cal239 wrote: "What is this voice Alex Turner is doing" while @MattChReport tweeted: "What is Alex Turner’s voice about?!" He inspects this thought, then ​​flings out his arms and freezes. He looks like a magician alarmed the rabbit is missing from his hat. Slowly, he reboots. “And I don’t remember doing that quite so … deliberately before,” he concludes. A boyish smile. “Phew!” He clutches his chest. “I didn’t think I was gonna get to the end of that sentence.” Arctic Monkeys in 2006 (with original bassist Andy Nicholson, far right). Photograph: Jo Hale/Getty Images

Read more: Glastonbury Festival 2023 Saturday line up and stage times including Lana Del Ray and Guns N' Roses Ben_Cooksey was also confused and asked: "What’s actually up with Alex Turner’s voice, he’s gone all avant garde and baritone" while @1999_adam: "Didn't Alex Turner used to be from Sheffield? What happened to his voice?" Justice4Rasiak added: "Any idea why Alex Turner is speaking in an American accent?" while @victoriacarlin_ tweeted: "Alex Turner still has it, just wish he’d swerve the American accent." Turner now lives between London and Paris with the French singer-songwriter Louise Verneuil. He composed most of the album alone, using the technique he road-tested on AM and adopted wholesale on Tranquility: compose, demo, inspect, tweak and re-record, repeat the process to death and eventually add drums and vintage keyboards. Finally: bring in the band. You sort of wish there was a way around the things attached to that word [croon],” he says. “But yeah, everything’s come down a little bit. And I like that, because if it’s come down here” – he runs a finger from his forehead to his ribcage – “it’s out of your head. It’s more coming from …”Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner has explained his 'bizarre' accent as his band topped Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage for the third time. While there was no problem with his singing voice, some viewers watching the coverage on BBC questioned the American twang the Sheffield star has adopted while speaking, It has become something of a trademark of Turner’s in recent years. That proximity to yesteryear haunts the record, not least in the creeping jazz element, which evokes his jazz-musician dad’s records and saxophone noodlings in Turner’s childhood home. “It came out the front in Tranquility, and there’s definitely a bit more this time,” he says. “It’s one of those things that you try to fly quite close to without [crossing over]. That music you’re around when you’re a kid always has a special power.” Prior to Friday evening’s headline set, there were some doubts whether the show would go ahead as Turner, 37, suffered from acute laryngitis. This forced Arctic Monkeys to cancel a show in Dublin.