Another Change in Direction

Arctic Monkeys’ new album The Car finds the popular indie rock band employing amore subdued and elegant sound

- DAVID CHIU

WHEN ARCTIC MONKEYS RELEASED THEIR SIXTH studio album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, in 2018, it was viewed as a dramatic left turn for the British band primarily known for their guitar-charged indie rock and the distinct lyrics of frontman Alex Turner. For that record, the British quartet incorporated ornate psychedelic and loungepop influences that leaned toward Burt Bacharach and the Beach Boys, with the piano becoming more prominent than the guitar. Yet, those noticeable shifts didn't appear to alienate the band's diehard fans when Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino became the band's sixth consecutive number one album in the U.K.

After that stylistic detour, fans might have expected Arctic Monkeys-Turner, drummer Matt Helders, bassist Nick O'Malley and guitarist Jamie Cook to return to the earlier brash rock for their next album. But the band from Sheffield remains determined to evolve and defy expectations, as indicated by The Car, released last month via Domino Records.

It's a continuation of the trippy and elegant after-hours vibe mined on Tranquility Base, although the music-featuring strings and horns this time-sounds more loose, atmospheric and expansive.

"I think there's this idea of when starting a new record [is the] 'we're-not-gonna-make-it-anythinglike-the-last-one," the pensive Turner tells Newsweek.