âTranquility Base Hotel & Casinoâ album review
By Katie Czenczek, Staff Writer
5/5
After a five-year hiatus, The Arctic Monkeys have finally released their highly-anticipated new album.
The bandâs sixth studio album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, was released on May 11 and has since received mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. Whether you love it or hate it, there is a single thing that everyone agrees withâitâs not your average Arctic Monkeys record⌠or music record in general.
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is a concept album, where the concept combines âSpace Oddityâ and âHotel Californiaâ for the strangest mashup in modern rock to date. It answers the age-old question, âWhat does a hotel on the moon sound like?â
Lead singer/songwriter Alex Turner plays the character of a washed-up hotel lounge singer who croons about technology, social media, current political climates, and disco lizards. The album debuts a more mature sound that is probably the truest to themselves that the band has been since their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, Thatâs What Iâm Not (2006).
Despite being focused on the present, Tranquility Base has the sound of lounge music from the â50s, â60s, and â70s. I think that this was deliberately done to play around with those generationsâ focus on science fictionâa common theme on this album.
For those who hoped that this record would be the last hurrah for rock and roll, youâll be mistaken but not disappointed. Heavy piano use has replaced the cutting guitar of older albums, causing Tranquility Base to have a lounge sound throughout all of its tracks. The change keeps the music fresh and shows off Turnerâs chops at tickling the ivories.
He learned how to play the piano for the album and it paid off, somehow bringing the instrument into the songs without making them sound like showtunes. The sparse drums, guitar, and bass throughout the tracks pop when they are used, complementing the slower tempo of the songs. The guitar riff in âShe Looks Like Funâ comes to mind as an example.
Turnerâs vocals are very impressive on this album. He switches between voices depending on the song, showing the wide range he has. For example, for âTranquility Base Hotel & Casinoâ his voice is a near perfect match to David Bowie, while the second song, âOne Point Perspective,â showcases the highest his voice has ever gone. Itâs as if he brought the falsettos from AM to the umpteenth level for the new album.
The lyrics have the same tongue-in-cheek quips that have become a staple of the band, with lyrics like âSwamp monster with a hard-on for connectivityâ from the track âScience Fiction,â and âIâll sell the fact that I canât be boughtâ from âBatphone.â However, what makes the lyrics particularly challenging to take in is that most of the songs barely have a chorus in them and could read as free-verse poetry. It takes multiple listens (or a quick Google) to actually understand exactly what Turner is singing about due the unique way the songs are written. Although it sounds like complete nonsense at first, after a few listens you can start to get the idea more, and they end up being some of the strongest lyrics Turner has penned.
It appears as if the Arctic Monkeys arenât slowing down anytime soonâdespite the reduction in tempo. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is a challenging, thought-provoking album that Iâll definitely be giving multiple listens.
