Arctic Monkeys released their seventh studio album, The Car, at the end of October to a mixed reception from the band’s extensive fanbase.
The album is a far cry from the music they used to make 10 to 15 years ago. It focuses more on funk and elements of jazz over the Sheffield indie rock that fans came to love with Whatever People Say I am That’s What I’m Not and AM.
The Car is an elegant lounge-pop album which focuses more on Alex Turner’s crooning vocals and telling a story than it does on catchy choruses and guitar riffs.
While many reviewers praise The Car as being some of the best work of the band’s career other fans online have referred to the album as a flop and have compared it to elevator music.
Following in the style from Arctic Monkeys previous album Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino, The Car is slow and purposeful - it is full of love and hope but also functions as a fond farewell for the music that the band used to make in the beginning.
Songs like ‘Body Paint’ and ‘Sculptures of Anything Goes’ are incredibly well written with clever metaphor and word play and have the potential to become timeless classics.
It is the smooth, lounge-pop vocals and orchestral vibe of the album that inspired the band to embark on a UK stadium tour.
In an interview with NME, Alex Turner said: “It wouldn’t have made sense for us to play stadiums before this album and I don’t think we were mentally ready for it up until now.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself and say that some of our songs ‘belong’ in a stadium, but they could definitely hang out in a stadium.”
The 2023 tour includes two shows in Hillsborough Park, Sheffield and will be the bands first live performance in their home city since 2018.
Edited by Lucy Wilcox