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One of England’s best and most celebrated rock bands over the last 15 years, the Arctic Monkeys dramatically transformed their sound with this seductive new record. Revisiting the lounge-pop of 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, Alex Turner and his bandmates again create a lush, orchestral soundscape that eschews their earlier career guitar anthems for a darker, more sophisticated sheen. The leadoff single and opening song, “There’d Better be a Mirrorball,” signals the Monkeys’ sonic curveball with a ripple of strings, synth, and piano, and its haunting ambience and cold melancholy set the tone for the record. Over a club beat rhythm and a pulsing chorus, Turner’s sexy Sheffield tenor slips into a falsetto worthy of 70s David Bowie on “I Ain’t Quite What I Think I Am,” and the record as a whole bears a distinct Bowie influence due to Turner’s croon and a chill, nocturnal vibe. As on the previous six albums, Turner’s gritty and incisive lyrics invoke comparison to such quintessential British songwriters as Ray Davies and Paul Weller. “I’ve conjured up wonderful things/The ballad of what could’ve been,” Turner sings on “Big Ideas,” where once again romantic ache and cynicism are intertwined.
By Greg Gaston
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