Arctic Monkeys star Alex Turner has revealed that he was worried about starting work on the group's second album.

The singer feared that new material would not live up to the expectations of the media and fans following the huge success of debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not last year.

"It properly kicked off. Last year we felt like we were in a box," Alex told The Sun. "We were only 18 and 19 when it all happened. We were playing gigs and writing great tunes.

"Then it got a bit daunting. To do all this new stuff and have people scrutinise you, it’s hard. I got frightened by it all and went into my shell a bit."