Bah Humbug!

Following Alex Turner’s ambitious side-project, the Last Shadow Puppets, with friend Miles Kane, there were rumours that Arctic Monkeys were to be no more. After an extended spell on the sidelines, it could have appeared that way, that was, until that difficult third album, Humbug, was released on Monday. Many wondered if the Sheffield four-piece could reignite the fires that drove the Arctic’s engine through their first two albums and drive them to success again. The answer (dramatic pause) is yes.

Right from the pounding opening riff of ‘My Propeller’, Humbug shows that the Monkeys are back and they mean business. With a sound that has developed further following ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’, Turner and company sound darker, louder, bigger and angrier. Classically showcased by lead single ‘Crying Lightning’, as well as ‘My Propeller’ and ‘Potion Approaching’.

The lyrical prowess of Turner has not waned in the slightest either. With each song filled with line after line of excellence. The growth of Turner himself, as well as the band, is shown here. No more are we dealing with girls who look good on the dance floor, or mardy bums, but instead fools on parade (‘Secret Door’) and lookalikes in The Battleship (‘Cornerstone’). Okay, you can say that it has shifted from the everyday observations of queuing for taxis and prostitutes on street corners, but where ‘Whatever People Say…’ won over audiences across the country, ‘Humbug’ not only challenges them, but aims to spread the net wider than the ‘indie boy going out getting lashed’ audience, and it does so with aplomb.

What is considerably noticeable throughout Humbug is how the influence Turner’s work with the Last Shadow Puppets has affected his singing. It seems perhaps since the Monkeys’ cover of ‘Diamonds are Forever’ at Glastonbury 2007, our Alex seems to think of himself as a bit of a crooner. As shown throughout the Shadow Puppets’ ‘Age of the Understatement’. 

This continues through the devilishly dark rumblings of ‘Crying Lighting’, ‘My Propeller’, and ‘Fire and the Thud’, Turner’s voice remains light and graceful. Soaring above the murky rhythms below. Along with the much lighter ‘Cornerstone’ and ‘Secret Door’. However, to say the front man has gone soft is far from reality. Turner does show his aggression can match the anger of the music, particularly throughout ‘Dangerous Animal’ and the brilliant ‘Pretty Visitors’ (‘What came first, the chicken or the dickhead?’ may well be one of my favourite lyrics ever).

Love them or hate them, you can’t knock Arctic Monkeys for ingenuity. A constant progression and development in both lyricism and music has the perilous potential to alienate many fans, but also win over countless new ones. Humbug must surely cry for the latter. A fantastic album from start to finish, with a new sound that possibly trumps both previous releases by the band. With a headline slot at Reading and Leeds this weekend, be warned, Arctic Monkeys are back, with a bang.