release date: May 11, 2018
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,92]
producer: Alex Turner, James Ford
label: Domino Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Star Treatment" - 4. "Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino" - 6. "Four Out of Five"
6th studio album by Arctic Monkeys released after a five-year hiatus is produced by composer, vocalist and guitarist Alex Turner with James Ford, who has been in the producer seat on all of the band's releases except the debut - just as Ford is found in that role on Turner's last project: The Last Shadow Puppets' second album from 2016 Everything You've Come to Expect. The ice-cold monkeys have come a long way since the debut from 2006 but also since the brilliant AM from 2013, and so has Mr. Turner. He has always been the undisputed leader of this band, but here he is not only part of the production-team, he has also written all songs and dare I say: turned Arctic Monkeys into a Turner-project. Stylistically and sound-wise, this has much in common with The Last Shadow Puppets most recent album. It sounds like over-polished lounge-like chamber pop and psychedelic pop with Turner crooning like a new-born American jet-setter in his modern aristocratically mumblings about right and wrong. I know that doesn't sound like an appetizer but despite Alex Turner being an incredibly talented musician I don't really enjoy his recent artistic detours.
The album received positive to luke-warm reviews. I only find it boring and even less interesting than Turner's Shadow project. To quote Alexis Petridis of The Guardian: "The problem is that a smart guy is sometimes all Turner seems to be. The songs can feel like less than the sum of their parts: a selection of one-liners, wry observations and knowing winks to camera that leave you struggling to work out what he’s driving at – and wondering if he knows, or cares – and to locate any real emotional connection or impact." That is spot on how I perceive this one, which leaves me as indifferent as when listening to Bowie's last album Black Star from 2016, and Alex Turner has never sounded this much like Bowie as he comes through on this one. Form over matter. Have we seen that before?! Too often, but it's part of the game, and when you're a certified talent, it's obviously difficult not to make some misses.
Not recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Uncut 3,5 / 5, 👎NME 4 / 5, 👍The Guardian 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 2 / 5 stars ]
