FEATURE:
No Loud Noise Equals a Big Gamble
IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images
Should Albums Like Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino Be Punished for Being Different?
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THE announcement of Arctic Monkeys’…
IN THIS PHOTO: Arctic Monkeys/PHOTO CREDIT: Zackery Michael
sixth studio album was met with excitement and relief – it is five years since AM and many have been hankering after something new from the Sheffield band. The release of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino has been met with a mixture of celebration and confusion – people are not quite sure what the make of the record! Look at the collation of reviews so far – taken from Wikipedia – and you can get a sense of the critical impression and thoughts:
“…Thomas Smith of NME noted that the album was likely to be "divisive", describing it as "the band’s most intriguing record to date". He promised the album would "reward deep-diving listeners", concluding that "depending on where you’re sitting, this album will likely either be a bitter disappointment or a glorious step forward".[3] Q described it as "a strange, wonderful album, one that almost feels like Arctic Monkeys have embarked on their own full-band side-project".[23] Uncut praised the album as "low-key but engrossing", but noted that "it can be a little one-paced, and a little withholding".[4] Roisin O'Connor of The Independent described the album as "creative, intriguing and completely different".[21] Spin's Larry Fitzmaurice described the album as the group's "strangest and most alluring", writing that a "sense of heading into the unknown – of charting new and strange artistic territory, accessibility be damned – pervades Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino as a whole, its own adventurousness proving a successful gambit".[9]
...For The Guardian, Alexis Petridis praised the album's humour, but criticised its occasional smugness, noting that "a smart guy is sometimes all Turner seems to be", with the album's tracks "feel[ing] like less than the sum of their parts". He concluded that "at turns thrilling, smug, clever and oddly cold, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is only a qualified success" and is "evidence – albeit flawed – of a certain musical restlessness".
That all seems positive and hopeful but, for the most part, people are saying the same thing: there is a lack of riffs and bangers and, for a band who made their mark (in 2003) with classics and sharp gems; fans and followers were hoping for an update of Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. The band were spotty and unknown quantities when they delivered that era-defining record: putting out a record like that twelve years down the line was never going to be a reality. Consider how the band has changed since their debut. They are stadium-sized icons and have amassed a huge wealth of fans – and deep wallets, too. Maybe there is more ego and pretence in the ranks: Alex Turner is not going to write lyrics about kebab shop fights and loose girls shagging bouncers in an alleyway. They documented that side of life for, well…most of their career.
IN THIS IMAGE: The album cover for Arctic Monkeys' 2009 release, Humbug/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
The guys are all comfortably past the stage of life where that sort of thing sounds natural and believable. The fact Arctic Monkeys delivered five albums in seven years gave people hope that roll and determination would lead to a 2015-ish-released record that had the feel and sound of AM or Humbug. Although the bang got a little bigger and weirder since their debut – Humbug (2009), Suck It and See (2011) and AM (2013) are more confident and experimental – the template and ambition is still the same. The albums rely on great compositions with bite and meat; lyrics that poke at ill-doers and wittily transpose everyday situations; feature mundane and anxious social situations with great intelligence and memorability – tight and instant albums that showed/show why the band are one of the greatest of this generation. One cannot realistically expect the same sort of sound and vibe from the band after six albums?! The need to change and evolve comes in every great group’s life. Consider every great from music and you can see the point where they took a side-step or tried something different. Alex Turner is in his thirties and not the same guy who grew up in High Green, Sheffield. He has experienced some high-profile romances and seems rather comfortable in the glitz, sun and glamour of Los Angeles. You can hardly blame the man for indulging and spending some well-earned time and money out in the heat!
If you get famous and your band starts accruing celebrity and prominence; you will go with that and amend your life accordingly. It would be disingenuous writing about the Yorkshire streets and local tarts flashing the lads: a band that has flogged millions of records and are proper celebrities have transplanted from that environment and have moved on. The notion they will retain the acne and youthful looks and return to their debut state is a naïve bet. They could have replicated AM and its mix of Classic Rock and darker magic – that would have been formulaic and not a worthy progression. They took five years and, with that time, had a bit of a rethink. Maybe there are fewer standout guitar lines and Matt Helders (drums) is not as high in the mix. The band stated how they enjoyed the experience immensely – recording Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino – and they made a record that sounded natural and right for them.
IN THIS PHOTO: Alex Turner/PHOTO CREDIT: Neil Bedford
In an article by NME, Turner explained the new direction of Arctic Monkeys and why the album was written in the manner it was:
“Speaking to NME as part of this week’s Big Read, Turner said the life he’s led in the five years along with his work with Alexandra Savior and The Last Shadow Puppetsmade him uncomfortable with repeating himself – and compelled to try something new as the artist he is today.
“This is choppy waters in terms of pretentiousness, but I don’t know how much of a choice in that I had,” Turner told NME of the writing of their new album. “This seems like a declaration about retaining my integrity, which I don’t mean for it to be, but this was all I had. I don’t know what else I could have done, truly”.
If the album had been an epic suck-fest of lazy lines and meagre tunes, we could admonish the band and wonder what the hell they had been doing for five years! As it stands; the sixth record from the band is an unexpected, if delightful, revelation. They have produced a string of hook-driven records and owned that territory: they are changing things up and embarking on a natural evolution. Some see Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino more as an Alex Turner solo album: he took more of a lead in terms of recording and direction; it bridges his solo ambitions with the work he is doing with Arctic Monkeys. Read Turner decoding the songs on the L.P. and you can get into his mind and rationale. It is a fascinating album and one that warrants more time and open, curious eyes...
PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash
What smears my pepper grinder is a lot of the hardcore feeling the band has sold out and let down the side. If they had delivered a quick-ish follow-up to AM – something a couple of years from its release – and produced the same sort of thing, the best you can hope for is an album that replicated AM and really didn’t move things on. That might have suited those looking for something safe, relatable and familiar: those who want the band to stretch their horizons and keep us on our toes have been pleased by the Arctic Monkeys’ newest release. Whilst the concept and vision of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino feel paradoxical and foreign to the ethos that brought them to our attention; you cannot deny that central refrain – Turner’s acute and quotable lyrics and a tight, focused band – are still in place. It is a risk going off the known path and recording an album that sounds a little strange and ‘soft’ – it relies more on lyrics and texture as opposed that quick release and conventional structures.Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is a divisive record and one thing you did not expect from Arctic Monkeys: a ‘grower’. It may take weeks/months before people are fully committed and appreciate what Turner and the guys are trying to do.
I can understand why the band’s biggest fans might feel a little short-changed by the record: expecting something chunky and fierce that tackled the problems of today and unleashed plenty of attack and energy. There are a lot of bands like that today commenting on the sort of things Arctic Monkeys represented back in 2006 – including IDLES, Wolf Alice; Shame, Cabbage and Goat Girl – so there is a risk the slighter older (if experienced) band might seem a little awkward and less relevant when lined up against the competition. The biggest bands of the day – who look at politics and society – have taken inspiration from Arctic Monkeys and carry on their ‘legacy’. If the forefathers continued to write the same music they did on their debut, or on their last album, it would not feel as monumental given the choices we have out there. Maybe Arctic Monkeys’ seventh album will throw the handbook of logic away and see them traversing the Sheffield streets and seeing it through wiser and less rebellious eyes. Whilst we want to see the excitement and raw rush of Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not; who among us wants to see anything as unseemly as a thirty-something man pretend he is the same as he was then: a late-teen, early-twenties writer who saw the world through a very different lens?! Many may feel Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is a weird and rather muted album for a band who built their reputation on different foundations. I can see why there is a bit of split and initial uncertainty but, when enough time has elapsed; we will look at the record and realise…
PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash
IT was the right move for the band.