The seventh studio album released by Arctic Monkeys on the 21st October 2022 was greatly anticipated. Indeed, much like it's predecesor TBHC, The Car had Monkeys fans concerned over whether they would return to their "old" sound of the early 2000's. The fans were divided, to the left of the ring were those wanting brash, observational lyrics, choppy guitar solos and for Alex Turner to renounce his crooner crown. Their opposition were the fans who applauded the band for "evolving", they shunned the naysayers with flippant comments of "each album is different, moron", even the drummer Matt Helders expressed his mild exacerbation with the harrassing fans who yearn for WPSIATWIN part 2.
Once The Car hit Spotify, fans of Arctic Monkeys were quick to listen and Tweet their thoughts on the album. It is clear, even from the release of their singles "There'd Better Be A Mirrorball", "Body Paint" and "I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am", that this album was not going to be WPSIATWIN part 2- but it was never going to be. Without further ado, let us delve into The Car and what it has to offer.
1. There'd Better Be A Mirrorball: I cannot express how much I love the drumming on this song. I didn't notice it at first but once I did it became all I could hear, it's very simple but for some reason just tickles my brain. This song fits Turner's voice fabulously, of course he wrote it, he wouldn't sing something he couldn't, but his delivery is outstanding. It's whimsical and melancholy, something Monkey's do very well especially in recent releases.
2. I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am: Funky drum beat, reminiscent of "Just Hold On We're Goin Home" a Drake song Monkeys covered in the BBC Live Lounge a few years back. Catchy hook, love any time Helders adds depth with backing vocals and "eyes roll back" is no exception. The harmony on "my way" is satisfying to the ears. The distorsion on the guitars really offer a disco/70's vibe that really underpins The Car as an era of Monkeys discography.
3. Sculptures Of Anything Goes: Dark and distorted, haunting. It almost makes you feel on edge, awaiting a bass drop or key change. The addition of keys, even for only three notes turn the song towards sensuality, excentuated by the guitar addition at the 2 minute mark and Turners falsetto notes. The breakdown from 2:30 is very cinematic, reminiscent of the sort of electronic music used in the HBO Euphoria series. *The Gasp*. It's the cousin of Dance Little Liar.
4. Jet Skis On The Moat: Funky guitar. I am indeed happy to watch the paint job dry. It's very comforting in a way like Billy Joel's Vienna, as though I'm not being judged for feeling sad. I will say, Turner at times sounds out of breath, this very much could be a stylistic decision, he's proven himself to have control when singing higher octave songs before, perhaps I'm just used to hearing him sit more comfortably in his range. Reminds me of a mix up between Djo and Bowie.
5. Body Paint: When they released the promo clip of this song I was terrified, "why is THAT the chorus? What on earth are they on about?" but boy was I in for a ride, now I struggle to hear this song without singing along. Slow, smooth and relaxing until the bridge, which is the part of the song that truly hypes me up. It reminds me of a song from The Labyrinth but I cannot for the life of me find the song I'm on about and I'm almost certain it's from that film. The harmonies on "long" and "face" are *chef's kiss*. The breakdown after "thinking of you", is grand and cinematic. The 3 minute mark onward where Turner really gets into singing and the pace picks up is fantastic, the strings are an excellent addition, we're even gifted with a slight guitar solo. "Ooooh....HAH...Yeahhhh".
6. The Car: Belongs in a Western film. Reminds me of the score for BBC Sherlock. Sexy, ghostly guitar. Interested to see how these songs translate live, I've seen interviews where Turner and Helders have said they need a bit of work to be performed and I can understand how they might not directly translate, they almost seem fit for a movie score more so than the stage. Very intruiging guitar solo at 2:30, almost calling on Hotel California levels of eery spook.
7. Big Ideas: This could be a Bond tune. Beautiful strings again, I think it's clear that the strings used so often during his time in TLSP has really rubbed off on Turner and the use of them in Monkeys tracks has massively contributed to their changing sound. I envisage a black and white film set in the 1940's and the female protagnoist is walking away wearing a trench coat and sunglasses, holding an umberella in the rain with a singular tear rolling down her face as she leaves town after her man confessed his love to her but she's in a dangerous line of work and knows he'll only get hurt if she stays. Beautiful guitar solo once again.
8. Hello You: Very upbeat. "The business they call show" is a bit Yoda. The main riff perhaps has some Asian influence? It certainly seems to have pulled from some traditional Asian songs, whether conscious or not. I think, although catchy, it might rank lowest of the songs on the album for me personally.
9. Mr Schwartz: Again with the cowboy guitar. It sounds like it would be in Killing Eve. I wonder if Turner is Mr Schwartz? I know there has been discussion amongst fans regarding 'who' Mr Schwartz is. As with most Monkey's songs there's whole forums dedicated to decoding them, particularly their newer stuff. I thought the words were "having tea with the Grinch", my bad, funny mental image though.
10. Perfect Sense: Starts almost like a happy hurrah. Richard of York? This is pretty grand, Bridgerton instrumentals. It does make 'perfect sense' for this to be the closing song of the album, it's very much the song for the final scene of the film, the protagonist has made some sort of revelation, they're at peace with whatever has happened/will happen to them as the curtains close on their story.
By this point, following the release of TBHC especially, it is clear that the known sound of Arctic Monkeys has developed into something different to what some fans are used to and perhaps prefer. In contrast the band's sound has moved towards a grander scale, The Car, and TBHC in fact, are cinematic albums, they're layered and more complex than having a drummer, bassist, and two guitarists.
In comparison the TBHC which I wrote had "no stand alone songs" (a perspective I agree on, it's hard to have a stand alone song in a concept album, all songs are there to complement a reflect on each other), I wholeheartedly agree with the selection of singles chosen for TC, although cinematic it is not a conceptual album in the same way TBHC is.
When TBHC was released one of the main criticisms was that it was an Alex Turner solo record packaged up as a Monkeys album, The Car has faced the same criticism. Now I can understand the roots of this perspective, in earlier songs, say "R U Mine?" you can clearly locate Helder's drumming, O'Malley on the bass, Cook on guitar, it's a more traditional "rock" album in terms of its components.
The use of strings, added keys and various distortions on instruments I think make it harder for the average listener to pick up on what's going on. Certainly, Helders, O'Malley and Cook are there, they ARE playing their instruments, they ARE in a band, but it isn't as cut and dry as it perhaps once was. In this instance, all these particular fans are left with is the image of Turner front of stage, so in this case I can understand why there might be a perception of it being a Turner solo record, but let's be real- they're grown men in their 30's, they've known each other for years, I doubt Alex has them all by the balls forcing them to write about cars.
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