Arctic Monkeys return with their hugely anticipated seventh studio album, The Car. After launching into superstardom with 2013’s AM, the band have undergone a dramatic change of pace for life post-AM.
2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino ushered in a new era that hid away most of the anthemic, accessible-to-all tools of the past, polarising the fanbase. While the notion of not doing a victory lap of your biggest album is respectable, the album was underwhelming in parts, with ideas that weren’t as fleshed out as they could have been. However, four years later and The Car seems to rectify a lot of those flaws. While they’re never going to recreate the mainstream highs of the past, what’s left is an intriguing, forever-winding detour that could lead us towards another exciting evolution.
Overall, the sound of The Car feels much more realised and grounded. Lead single ‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’ welcomes us to this new iteration with an introduction to the waves of strings that are ready to bolster the instrumentals of the album. A gorgeous arrangement of strings combine with the ominous Tranquility synths to produce a fuller, artsier sound that compliments Alex Turner’s lounge-act vocals wonderfully.
The 70s aesthetic of the artwork and live performances seeps into the wah-wah heavy riff of ‘I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am’. A track that enjoys its Funk-influence and bridges the gap between the old and new with a needed snap. ‘Sculptures of Anything Goes’ breeds unease with deep-rooted synths and industrial drums to tempers the mood.
Another way the album builds off of its predecessor is how it utilises momentum. Tracks such as ‘Body Paint’ provide the big, anthemic moment that fans of the old AM would have loved to have heard on Tranquility. It showcases the power in combining styles to deliver one of the band’s biggest singles in their career, and it’s placed in the middle of the record to inject some fuel into it.
Variation is in abundance as the title track welcomes acoustic guitar chords with stark piano keys, bringing a well-layered instrumental that’s only matched by ‘Hello You’ – an album highlight that seems to be in constant motion with its thick blend of guitars and synths.
To quote ‘Big Ideas’ – “I had big ideas/the band were so excited.” The Car feels like the record that should’ve followed AM. It obviously searches for a new direction but feels more grounded in its desire to stand out from the rest, while also sounding like a more cohesive, collaborative effort too. While the new elements lead the way, it is also littered with references of old songs (I really liked the dancing shoes reference in ‘Mr Schwartz’) and riffs to bring us fans along for the journey too.
Where do Arctic Monkeys go from here? Who knows. But if they continue embracing reality as they fall back to Earth then what’s next could be even better.
Featured Image: Zachary Michael