Album: AM
Record Label: Domino
The 'Monkeys 5th record sees Alex Turner returning to his illustrious lyrical brilliance, says Jack Greenwood
"I'm yours Glastonbury, I'm yours... But the question is R U MINE?" Alex Turner, Glastonbury Festival 2013
Monday marked the fifth day of my life in which I woke
to the excitement of an Arctic Monkeys album release. Both the band and the publics' perception of them has changed dramatically since that primitive 2006 work.
Unlike the vast playground of potential greeting their initial adolescent dance-floor
tunes, they now face an expectant fan-base of millions around the globe. And of
course, with each subsequent release, questions have prodded and probed at the
Monkeys, suggesting that they will never again reach the vertiginous heights of
Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m
Not.
Fittingly, AM
emerges with a rhetoric of Alex Turner’s own. Do I Wanna Know? emboldens exactly the brooding, mischievous and carnal
style the band have favoured on recent records. The poetic verses that have
surfaced throughout Turner’s eleven year mastery of the Monkeys’ vocals slip
into earshot in the opening line as he croons ‘Have you got colour in your cheeks?’ over a lethargic but
progressive bass line. His ability to produce lyrics of the most intriguing
manner never fails throughout the dozen songs tabled in this release. Even more
impressive is his fascinating reworking of John Cooper Clarke’s early 1980s
poem I Wanna Be Yours, which seems to
be so suited to the Sheffield man’s own musings that younger listeners can be
forgiven for mistaking it to be fresh out of the North Midlands. As the last
song, it re-emphasises the meticulous structure of each AM song, and the
lyrical brilliance of their front man.
For those that, somewhat understandably, crave a
return to the pulse racing, expeditious shout-alongs of days gone by, solace is
found in the festival-scale belter, R U
Mine? A tune that was first released more than 18 months ago, it represents
the only real glimpse we get of the clamorous but adept drumming of Matt Helders.
R U Mine? Is already firmly a crowd
favourite in the live set, as this summer’s emphatic Glastonbury headlining act
proved. At times, AM must frustrate
those who were looking for something a bit more aggressive and upbeat, but
followers just need to accept that the Arctic Monkeys will never better their
all conquering debut. Instead of yearning for the old sounds, embrace the
streamlined swagger of a band transformed by their association with Josh Homme
and his American influence.
The album offers a comprehensive drop in tempo after
the classic rock of the superb Arabella
and the meandering I Want It All,
which is equally as unconvincing as the flaccid No.1 Party Anthem. Fortunately, the joyful, piano inspired Snap Out of It, offers exactly that
remedy to a listing middle order. It brightens up the record’s climax with an
infectiously catchy hum-under-your breath harmony.
Britain’s favourite 21st century northern
four-piece may just have contrived the most tightly polished and immaculately
produced full-length release of their careers. That’s not always a good thing,
but striving to recreate a distinctly sixties vibe, not least with the heavily
greased hairdos and swanky leather jackets appears to be working for the
sexualised musings of Alex Turner right now.
Key Tracks: R U Mine?, Arabella, Snap Out Of It
For Fans of: Queens of the Stone Age, Kings of Leon
7/10
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