‘The Car’; Arctic Monkeys’ Return

Miriam Gaytan

Arctic Monkeys have finally made their return with their new album ‘The Car’ after their last album ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’ dropped four years ago in 2018! After years of silence on behalf of the British band, they have broken their silence with their new album that also broke our ears and hearts, in a good way of course, since the album made #3 on the Spotify Charts of October 21st-23rd Top Albums Debut Global and Debut USA and #9 on Spotify Charts of October’s 21st-27th Top Albums Global! Arctic Monkeys have really made their way up since the beginning of their journey and all of their fans love that for them! Arctic Monkeys was formed in the year 2002 in Sheffield, England but didn’t record their first song ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ a few years later and didn’t release their first album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ until 2006 with Alex Turner as their frontman and keyboardist, Matt Helders as their drummer and backup vocalist, Jamie Cook as their guitarist, and Andy Nicholson as their bassist who left the band after the album released and was replaced by Nick O’Malley. In total, Arctic Monkeys have released many b-sides and EPs and seven studio albums; ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ (2006), ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ (2007), ‘Humbug’ (2009), ‘Suck It and See’ (2011), ‘AM’ (2013), ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’ (2018), and ‘The Car’ (2022) all which are very different from each other. After the ‘AM’ album came out, it became very popular and loved not only by fans but by others outside of the fandom as well because of the combination of rock and pop music, so once ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’ came out and realized it was nothing like the previous album, some were unhappy and disappointed as the album consisted more of a space-like atmosphere and involved keyboard instruments more. Even though the album was disliked by others, many people did like and enjoy it.  The band creates songs in various forms of rock, atmospheres, and feelings. So go listen, maybe one will catch your fancy! Back to Arctic Monkeys’ great return…’The Car’! ‘The Car’ was released on the 21st of October, 2022, it consists of ten songs; ‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’, ‘I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am’, ‘Sculptures Of Anything Goes’, ‘Jet Skis On The Moat’, ‘Body Paint’, ‘The Car’, ‘Big Ideas’, ‘Hello You’, ‘Mr. Schwartz’, and ‘Perfect Sense’. Some songs are more upbeat than others, like ‘I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am’ and ‘Hello You’ but none of them are very loud or fast-beat, although ‘Body Paint’ becomes more intense and quick-paced as it goes. And, unlike ‘Body Paint’ which becomes quick-paced, the song named after the album ‘The Car’, is so calm, slow, and soft it could put you to sleep! Another song that is slow is ‘Sculptures Of Anything Goes’, the difference is that it has more of a tense and dark atmosphere that reminds us of Arctic Monkeys’ ‘Humbug’ album. The album’s most popular song, though, is the song that starts off the album ‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’, and the least popular song is ‘Mr. Schwartz’ which is the second to last song of the album. And, as I said before, every Arctic Monkeys album contains something that makes them unique from each other, including their newest creation and the band decided that the unique element for ‘The Car’ would be to not only have the band members’ instruments but to include orchestra in most of the songs in the album as well.