Last week, the Arctic Monkeys announced that their new album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, would be out at last next month. The news came nearly 1,700 days after the release of the British rockers’ strong fifth album, 2013’s desert-rock hit parade AM. In the intervening half-decade, band members have occupied their time (and stayed in the periphery of the spotlight) by making records with side projects, playing with pop stars and rock legends, and performing plenty of covers. Let’s revisit the last five years in the lead-up to the new one.

September 9, 2013: On the day of AM’s release, frontman Alex Turner and drummer Matt Helders’ episode of Pitchfork’s “Over/Under” is released. Helders declares, “Beards, in general, are getting a lot more attention than they should, I think.... Don’t be the guy who’s got a beard. And then, particularly, don’t be the guy who’s got a goatee.” A clean-shaven Turner remains silent (an innocuous enough detail but, more on this later).

September 13, 2013: Arctic Monkeys cover Drake’s beloved 2013 hit “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” the first of many AM-era covers to come. Over the next few months, the band plays Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” (on the day after Reed's death), the Beatles’ “All My Loving,” and Tame Impala’s “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards.”

March 24, 2015: Turner pops up in the music video for “Vertigo” by Mini Mansions, an L.A. band co-founded by Queens of the Stone Age bassist Michael Shuman.

August 14, 2015: True Detective (Music From the HBO Series) is released, and it features Alexandra Savior’s “Risk (Demo),” a song co-written and produced by Turner (who also plays on the track).

January 21, 2016: After teasing their return with a music video at the top of 2016, the Last Shadow Puppets, Turner’s psych-pop side project with Miles Kane, announce their sophomore album, Everything You’ve Come to Expect.