The Car: A New Direction for The Arctic Monkeys

The Arctic Monkeys have just released their seventh studio album, The Car, on October 21st of this year, four years after their controversial album Tranquility Based Hotel and Casino’s. The album contains ten new tracks, each of which has its own personal style with each maintaining an effect of individuality. All the songs were created with an underlying similarity in them.  

The Car deviates from the traditional Arctic Monkeys’ heavy riff guitar songs, moving down the path Tranquility Based Hotel and Casino’s paved four years earlier. According to Tess Ferguson in the article, Review: Arctic Monkeys drives to success with new album, Tranquility Based Hotel and Casino’s was the first album where lead singer, Alex Turner, strayed away from the band’s previous heavy alternative rock albums. This caused mixed reactions amongst the fans of Arctic Monkeys.  

The opening song in the album, “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball,” introduces the story of a man who fell hopelessly in love but is not reciprocated the same. Unlike the opener from the AM album, “Do I Wanna Know?” which starts off with a heavy guitar solo, “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball” amplifies each instrument instead of being overshadowed by the electric guitar. If you went from the album AM to The Car, it would be like you are listening to two different artists. AM feels like walking into a rock concert; while The Car feels like walking into a jazz club. While some enjoyed this new style, others miss the feel of their previous albums. 

Not only does the music exceed expectations in this album, but the fans also receive plenty of beautifully composed lyrics that are now some of their favorites. Lyrics from the fifth song, “Body Paint,” such as, “And if you’re thinking of me… I’m probably thinking of you,” have crawled their way into fans’ hearts. Along with the quote from the final song of the album, “Perfect Sense,” “Sometimes I wrap my head around it and it still makes sense.”  

The Arctic Monkeys continue to strive down a path of growth in their music, despite the idea of what people expect them to create. The Car perfectly embodies this achievement. Instead of abandoning their ideas of expanding their music variety, the band pursued on, giving us The Car.