It begins with a bang – in the form of strings that kick in immediately. From the first note you can feel that the Arctic Monkeys have something big in mind here. Then a short pause, Alex Turner raises his voice: “Don’t get emotional, that ain’t like you.” He sings better than ever. In its dramatic structure, “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball” sounds like wide-screen cinema, like James Bond, like Burt Bacharach. Still missing the overarching melody, like the Walker Brothers’ “Make It Easy On Yourself” had – but hey, it’s the Arctic Monkeys! They turn off beforehand.
From the first note you can feel that the Arctic Monkeys have something big in mind here
Ever since they unleashed an indie-rock whip in 2005 with ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’, the four Sheffield boys have tried something different on each of their six albums. They proved to be good at whatever they did, and they always remained the Arctic Monkeys. That doesn’t change with her seventh work either. It doesn’t actually tie directly to the aforementioned predecessor, but rather to the second album by the Last Shadow Puppets, Alex Turner’s project with Miles Kane, which aimed for similarly cinemascopic heights.
The breaks are completely different than expected. In “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am” there are at least five different songs, the blaxploitation sound changes with the wah-wah guitar to soft rock and 10cc pop. Turner’s singing skills reach their peak on “Jet Skis On The Moat”, falsetto singing at its best. The orchestral “Big Ideas”, which could be a collaboration between Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, is the execution of one, “The Ballad Of What Could Have Been”. The strings take turns in the lead role with the band – job sharing, so to speak. And then suddenly this seventies Eagles guitar. Absurd but appropriate! Like the piano swabs instead of the usual heavy riffs. You really can’t put anyone else on it. But if ever a band knows how to pull that off, it’s this one.
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