For those of you who are looking for AM2, it’s best you steer away from the latest LP from Arctic Monkeys. Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino is the sixth studio album from the English group and their most interesting yet. Alex Turner began writing this LP in his house high up in the Hollywood hills, on a piano gifted by his manager. As a result of the chosen jump off point, the music is simpler and sees the Monkeys going in a new sonic direction, one in which feels extra-terrestrial to the typical Arctic Monkeys sound. It even left the band considering the option of releasing it as a solo effort from the frontman, but Turner had no intentions of going alone on this record.
And so, the four lads from Sheffield take us on a journey to Tranquility Base (the name of the landing spot for Buzz Aldrin and Lance Armstrong on the historic first voyage to the moon). The 11 tracks require repeated listens, with some of Turner’s lyrics being his most aware and offbeat yet, with references to that guy in the White House, questions of shock that you haven’t seen Blade Runner and admissions that Turner just wanted to be one of The Strokes. The album is produced by long time collaborator James Ford, who has worked with them on AM, Favourite Worst Nightmare and Suck It and See, and he has helped create a soulful and sensual disc, overflowing with majestic melodies. Even if it doesn’t feel like an Arctic Monkeys record when it first hits your ears, it well and truly is and solidifies them as a rock band like no other!
