Anyone expecting a return to the quaint tales of a youth spent in Yorkshire should not expect much from AM; that band is gone. Nevertheless, the Arctic Monkeys’ 5th record is perhaps a return to commercial success and uses the same themes (loneliness, frustration, nightlife) which made Whatever People Say I Am so successful.
Their performance at Glastonbury demonstrated, if you didn’t already know, how powerful ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ and ‘R U Mine?’ are as pop songs. Heavy, heavy guitar lines make this sound more like the Mojave desert than High Green and, together with Turner’s storming vocals, make a mockery of the question marks at the ends of each title. On AM, Arctic Monkeys ask little and say a lot.
There are enough moments of uncertainty to make you think Turner is still an teenager in Sheffield. It seems almost unbecoming of a global rock star to ask “Do I wanna know / If this feeling flows both ways?” or tell anyone that “There’s this tune I found that makes me think of you somehow / and I play it on repeat / Until I fall asleep / Spilling drinks on my settee”. Yet his laments this time around are more predatory and fit in with the nocturnal theme of the album. Instead of making eyes across the dancefloor, Turner’s outside the club this time (or outside your window) and he know what he wants. He just might be too wasted to have it.
The band’s new sound is influenced heavily from a number of sources which are bound to please old fans as much as they will make the record more accessible and commercially successful. The era of adolescents who were hitting the nightclubs at the same time WPSIA,TWIN are the same people who will have Josh Homme’s first masterpiece Songs for the Deaf in their top albums of the century, and ‘R U Mine?’ could easily be a Homme / Grohl collaboration fueled only by testosterone and Jose Cuervo. ‘Arabella’ and ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’ evoke the best falsetto moments of ‘Blue Orchid’ era Jack White, whilst ghostly echoes of John Lennon’s voice and vocal mannerisms get channeled through Turner at odd but noticeable points throughout the album. There’s even a Destiny’s Child-style harmony smack bang in the middle of ‘Knee Socks’. If this is a reworking of great music from the past 50 year, though, it is very much Arctic Monkeys vs. the world, chopping and dragging noises, timbres and harmonies into their own work in a way which makes sure that it is still entirely, indefatigably, their own.
Whilst the first five tracks are loud, defiant and impressive, ‘No. 1 Party Anthem’ and ‘Mad Sounds’ lower the tempo and, to an extent, kill the atmosphere on your first listen. but give them time. With lyrics like “So you’re on the prowl / Wondering whether she left already or not / Leather jacket, collar popped like Cantona” and “I just want you to do me no good / And you look like you could”, ‘No. 1 Party Anthem’ fits in perfectly with the album’s sound and is a staple in the album, an important hinge on which the loud, innovative end balances.
Those who loved ‘R U Mine?’ since it was released last year will know what to expect from the early half of the album, but ‘Fireside’, ‘Knee Socks’ and, to a lesser extent, ‘Snap Out of It’ sound completely new and a sure to become new fan favorite. ‘Knee Socks’ in itself is all atmosphere, moodiness and Josh Homme wailing, and it squares the circle by reminding us of their very first album track: if “When you know who’s calling / even though the number is blocked” doesn’t make you think of “You can pour your heart out / but her reasoning will block / owt you send her after nine o clock” then there’s something dearly wrong with you.
It’s past glories and new beginnings all at the same time, but it’s mostly non stop brilliance. At times it verges being ever so slightly predictable, and to some ears may suffer a tiny bit for lacking the 100% originality of Suck It and See, but the dark side of life after midnight wins through. Never have the California desert and streets of Sheffield sounded so close.
A relentlessly heavy and well deserved 9/10 for AM:
AM is out on Domino Records on Monday 9th September, but you can stream it now from the links below.
