Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

Arctic Monkeys
Humbug

The Arctic Monkeys are back and they’re back with their third album ‘Humbug’. Recorded in California with Josh Homme, frontman of Queens of the Stone Age, the band have created a darker sound that takes their music to a whole new level. Following the success of their highly-acclaimed debut album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ in 2006, and the more hard-edged second ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ a year later, ‘Humbug’ is a more mature album that displays the musical abilities within the band.

Throughout the album, Homme’s influence is clear as the songs are more sinister and menacing than in previous collections. Truthfully, this heavier sound is quite hard to get your head around after a first listen but ‘Humbug’ proves to be the most coherent Monkeys album to date as the tracks move seamlessly from start to finish. Alex Turner’s voice continues to improve, especially on opening track ‘My Propeller’ but it is his lyrics that remain the most striking thing about his albums. While they seem darker than before, the sarcastic sneering that characterised the earliest albums are still there, particularly in ‘Dance Little Liar’ and the more unsettling penultimate track ‘Pretty Visitors’. The album’s best track ‘Crying Lightening’, although not as volcanic as ‘Brianstorm’ on ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ is just as memorable and very moreish.

This is a brave move by the Arctic Monkeys who seem to have grown in confidence in their own abilities. It would be easy to create a dozen new albums full of anthems like ‘I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor’ and ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ but it is clear that they want to move away from this image that was then followed by a huge number of bands who just proved to be pale imitators. Many fans will wonder why the band has changed something that was working so well as they are in danger of losing the killer melodies that they are most famous for. On the other hand, never comfortable with their unofficial title as the ‘voice of a generation’, ‘Humbug’ shrugs off this burden as they take a big step forward, ensuring an interesting future.