Arctic Monkeys Space Out
Alex Turner and the AM Crew Shoot for the Moon
If you ever thought that Arctic Monkeys’ frontman Alex Turner would follow the rules, you are sorely mistaken. In his latest act of rebellion, Turner exchanges his charmingly grimy garage rock style with an odd yet suave tone that veers away from the likes of their earlier releases.
The first album from the Arctic Monkeys since 2013’s AM, Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino triumphantly announces the popular British rock group’s return from their five year hiatus. Given that Tranquility Base is actually the name of the site on the moon on which mankind first landed, the band’s departure from anything their fans have heard before and also from earth itself is fitting.
Continuing with this lunar theme, Alex Turner wrote the majority of TBHC in a makeshift recording studio in Los Angeles he dubbed the “Lunar Surface” as a nod to the theory the moon landing in 1961 was a hoax staged by director Stanley Kubrick.
While certainly odd and not at all what we were expecting out of them, Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino shines in a way that would not have been possible if they had stuck to their roots as a bluesy rock band. If the mark of a true artist is the ability to create something beautiful or important to you despite the fear of rejection or backlash, the Arctic Monkeys without a doubt fit that description. And we hope they continue to do so for many years to come.
