Arctic Monkeys
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Domino
As far as opening lines go: "I just wanted to be one of The Strokes, now look, at the mess you made me make" is quite a statement. Welcome to Arctic Monkeys' concept album.
In his most spectacular lyrics yet, Alex Turner gives the grand tour around a seedy, 1970s-era hotel in space. Arctic Monkeys are the house band as we meet the vain guests staying there.
Four Out Of Five is set on its rooftop restaurant where Turner seems to mock Tripadvisor reviews and lament about gentrification on the moon.
In one of his more unsubtle references, Turner sings "the leader of the free world reminds you of a wrestler wearing tight golden trunks".
This album is a total departure from AM's slick blend of R&B hooks and fuzzy guitars. Whilst it is a lyrical puzzle, musically it is all inclusive.
Turner's grandiose prose is darkly crooned like Nick Cave over piano-led tracks. Subtle bass grooves and sinister electric organ create the ambience of a creepy hotel reception.
There is a genius at work. Do not disturb.
Andrew Arthur
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here