Arctic Monkeys - The Car (2022) Review
The Car is the seventh studio album by Arctic Monkeys and it comes four years after their last album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. Arctic Monkeys are a massive band from Sheffield, England, and don’t need much of an introduction, everyone knows who they are by now. The Car continues down the piano-driven sound initially introduced by Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. TBHC was very divisive when it first came out, but I always liked the direction they went in, with their new piano-driven sound and the silly sci-fi concept.
The album begins with “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball” and sets the tone for a cinematic/soundtrack, lounge-style album. The lyrics in combination with Alex Turner’s vocal performance are great. The strings that appear near the end of the song are incredibly beautiful. This is one of the album's standout tracks and a great opener for the project.
The next track, “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am,” definitively shows that the project is going to sound like a string-heavy 1960s movie soundtrack. This one did not do much for me. It isn’t a bad song but other than the harmonizing during the “eyes roll back” line there’s nothing here that stands out to me.
“Sculptures of Anything Goes” is definitely different from what Arctic Monkeys have ever done before. This is one of the fan favorites, but it doesn’t do it for me either. The synths are something I can definitely get behind but this almost feels like a demo that can still be refined to me. This still has the potential to grow on me and I hope they go further down exploration of synths. “Jet Skies on the Moat” is the next track and it's got a nice groove to it. This one sounds closest to the Bowie-influenced sound they seem to be chasing over the last few projects. This one is okay but grew on me a bit since the first time I heard it.
“Body Paint” is another one of the stand-out tracks on the album. There are lots of Beatles-sounding elements on this track. This song has a great buildup to the second half which feels very climactic and it’s probably the highest energy song on The Car, best in terms of dynamics for sure.
Following one of the most interesting songs on the album comes one of the least interesting to me, “The Car.” This is a 1970s folky-sounding acoustic guitar song and it is just way too slow with no payoff for my liking. This could’ve been a B side and even then, most of their B sides are much better than this. The string section of this song is amazing but everything else just feels so lifeless and lackluster to me.
The next song is “Big Ideas” and by this point of the album, I am growing tired of the generally slow tempo and vibe. The constant low-tempo cinema soundtrack instrumentation just doesn’t do much to keep my attention for an entire album. Although I will admit that the strings in every song are soothing to listen to since they’re very well recorded.
After two of my least favorite songs comes “Hello You,” which I would say is one of the better songs on the project. I like the little string/ synth melody that comes on right before and also during the chorus. The build-up is nice and it feels like one of the few songs that has a stronger use of dynamics.
“Mr Schwartz” does a little better than “The Car” for a 1970s-inspired acoustic guitar track however I still don’t find it spectacular by any means. The groove goes a little more into a Bossa nova styling which wasn’t done on any other song on the album. It's fine, but it still hasn’t completely grown on me.
The final track on the album Is “Perfect Sense” and although it is a good song, it is arguably the weakest Arctic Monkeys’ closing track in their discography. This is one of the better songs on the album, it has excellent instrumentation and does have a sense of finale to it. My biggest gripe about this song is that it just sort of ends and I think it would work better if the instrumentation dragged on for a bit longer.
Throughout this entire album, Turner does this lounge-style talk-singing, and it's not my favorite thing on this project which is odd because I thought it fit well in Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. This is the first Arctic Monkeys album I didn’t immediately love after first listen since I’d usually be biased and defend what they do since I’m a pretty big fan of their work.
The production and mixing on this album are great and The Car is one of the best-sounding Arctic Monkeys projects. Thematically the album is consistent and cohesive, I just don't think I'm a huge fan of the sound and vibe. This feels like it went more toward the sound set-up by Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, but left behind the quirks and charm that made that album so good. Also, Matt Helders is one of my favorite drummers and he feels so underutilized on The Car.
This feels like it would fit much better as a film soundtrack than a full Arctic Monkeys release. Large portions of the album feel like a less exciting version of The Last Shadow Puppets (Alex Turner’s side project), which do a great version of this specific 60s/70s inspired sound. I’m the kind of person who loves it when artists try new sounds and directions, so I don’t dislike it because it's not "Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” or “AM” pt 2, I just find it lackluster and kind of dull at points. There are moments throughout the album where I wish there was something a bit more energetic since the album is fairly low tempo throughout the entire project.
To this day, months after its release, it’s still easily my least favorite Arctic Monkeys project. I am still excited for the next thing Arctic Monkeys do because it is always different and usually a breath of fresh air. There are some good songs on here and some good ideas but ultimately falls flat for me.
4/10 - Below Average