Velveteen suits, strings, and crooning. This is The Car.
Unbutton your shirt, one place further down than you usually would and sink into your armchair. This, the seventh full length outing from Arctic Monkeys is another remodel of their style and sensibilities. If we follow the trajectory from 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino, The Car makes sense. In no way am I claiming that 70’s wah wah guitars, soaring strings, and exotica-style bongo fills, was the obvious next step. What I am inferring is that the Car is another step in the maturation of the individual members of Arctic Monkeys. Parallel to that, the maturation of their overall sound as a collective unit.
Although this is not strictly a concept album in the mould that their previous album was. The Car is tightly bound thematically. There is a thoughtfulness evident in the track placement and selection. It is the joint shortest track list in the Arctic Monkeys’ discography thus far, and the lean nature of the album is a superb exercise in economy.
It is true. The breakneck speed and gleeful noise of the early Arctic Monkeys’ records are firmly in the rear-view mirror. There are moments of rapturous chorus and flailing falsetto from Mr. Turner, but they are used in great moderation. The overall sound on this record is extremely clean and relaxed. With each instrument able to be picked clearly by the ear and given ample focus throughout the album. At no point does it become a shouting match where instruments are competing for the spotlight.
Lyrically, Turner doesn’t drop the ball here either. He’s as poetically charming as ever, with quotable quips being fired at us as if from the barrel of a bren gun. Gone are the heady days of Alex getting to grips with youthful anxieties and tackling the L-word through colourful metaphor. His lyrics on this record mirror the sonic direction that the band have gone in. Through rich filmic references of old hollywood and motoring holidays, we are transported to a world of brown and orange. After listening to this album for the third time today, I too am smudging dubbin on my dancing shoes.
The band have achieved a timeless sound on this album. Through the use of vintage instruments and mixing techniques, the album is audibly rich and warm. This latest project also provides a vehicle (yes, I know) for the individuals in the band to showcase their myriad of other creative talents. Drummer Matt Helders, who has proven himself to be a talented photographer, adorns the album cover with a 35mm shot of a Los Angeles skyline. Alex Turner also gets behind the camera to direct the video for the album opener ‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’. The decision not to outsource these aspects of the album, speaks to the investment all the band members have in the direction they are headed. It is not the case of a single band member being firmly in the drivers seat (Again, I know).
The Car is an album that serves to reaffirm the claim that the Arctic Monkeys are a band that refuse to sit still, and aren’t afraid to experiment with new sounds for each upcoming studio release. With that, I must say, it was only a matter of time before Alex Turner snuck Subbuteo into an Arctic Monkeys track.
