Arctic Monkeys: Humbug - the inthenews.co.uk review
Arctic Monkeys' third album Humbug is released on August 24th
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Friday, 21, Aug 2009 12:01
Chris Jefferies on a complex and mature effort from Alex Turner and co that begs patience of the listener but rewards the wait with depth and sophistication in spades.
Domino, out August 24th
In a nutshell…
Northern primates continue to evolve on third full-length effort.
What's it all about?
Humbug sees lead singer Alex Turner returning to his day job after a spectacular orchestral side project, the Last Shadow Puppets, with Miles Kane of The Rascals.
Who's it by?
The Sheffield quartet burst onto the scene in 2006 with their massive-selling debut LP Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not, which included the UK number one hits I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and When The Sun Goes Down. 2007's follow up Favourite Worst Nightmare wasn't quite as successful, but lead single Brianstorm still made it to number two in the charts.
As an example…
"All the pretty visitors/ Came and waved their arms and cast/ The shadow of a snake pit on the wall." - Pretty Visitors
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
The acute Englishness of the band has meant they are yet to make a serious dent on the US market, but this record should be a critical hit back home.
What the others say
"The pitch for Humbug couldn't scream 'maturity' any more loudly if the record came with free pipe and slippers." - Observer
"Humbug is a bit of a let down. It's hard work, lacking in joy and difficult to love. I cannot see it repeating their earlier success." - The Sun
So is it any good?
It's unlikely to measure up to the chart success of the previous records, but this album has got critical acclaim written all over it. There is a real sense of progression here, and the band are not afraid to experiment with eerie sounds; Potion Approaching isn't the only track on the record to sound like a haunted fairground ride. As bassist Nick O'Malley put it in a recent interview with The Fly: "We wanted it to be less simple." Indeed, the range of instruments deployed is much more diverse than just guitar, bass and drums, although it hardly measures up to the epic scope of the Last Shadow Puppets.
Despite this new found complexity, the boys aren't averse to an up-beat bouncing bass line, a point that their latest single Crying Lightning testifies to. Along with the lilting charm of Cornerstone, this is about as close as you'll get to the band's earlier sounds; elsewhere things take a turn for the surreal.
Alex Turner's lyrics have never been 100 per cent comprehensible, but they delve into the truly cryptic on this record, with far less social observation than before. Producer Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) sums the mood up aptly: "This is the record where they get weird, grow up and trip out," and his influence is clear to see on the pounding drums and distorted bass of Pretty Visitors.
Humbug brings a new dimension to Artic Monkeys and should juxtapose nicely with their well-worn singles when their US tour rolls around. This may be the first Arctics' album that could be described as a real grower - it begs patience of the listener, but as a reward there's depth and sophistication here in spades.
8/10
Chris Jefferies