Arctic Monkeys: AM

A week after it's official release, we're finally able to see if Arctic Monkey's fifth album lives up to it's hype. The lads have made history this week, as the first act with five Number One albums from an indie label (the band have stayed with Domino since day one), and now hold the title of the second-fastest selling album of 2013 (losing out to Daft Punk). After a series of high-profile gigs this summer, including a Glastonbury headline slot and the iTunes Festival, fans have been drip-fed a constant stream of tracks, starting with 'R U Mine?' back in 2012. 'Do I Wanna Know?' and 'Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?' gave us a taster of what was to come from 'AM', and (dodgy B-sides notwithstanding) had fans and music critics alike eager to listen to the full LP. According to a recent piece in NME, the band are  now 'artists'; fully-fledged musicians who can produce any kind of music they want and still sound like Arctic Monkeys. The band are soon to launch into their extensive 'The AM Tour', with over 60 concert dates across the globe, and fans everywhere will be expecting a show laden with new material as well as the old favourites.

'AM' opens with single 'Do I Wanna Know?', the release of which signalled that the band's fifth album was different from anything they'd released before. The song's riff swaggers over the sound of stomping percussion created (literally) with their bare hands. Combined with the following track 'R U Mine?', it's an explosive start the the album. The rockier riffs suit the band's effortlessly confident live shows which we've seen over the summer. We had a taste of this side of the band with 'Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair', from Suck It And See, and it's clear all that time in the LA heat with Josh Homme et al has rubbed off on them; the guitars take the lead and Turner's vocals take a momentary back seat.

AM's production values are noticeably higher, more thought has gone into constructing these songs than before, something which has increased with each album. Backing vocals from Helders and O'Malley on tracks like 'Fireside' and 'Snap Out Of It' are more than an afterthought- they help to shape the album's tone and add a 1960s girlband-esque groove. The solitary beat at the start of 'Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?' wouldn't be out of place on a hip-hop record, and Turner himself cites Dr Dre as an influence for 'AM'. There's a nod to the 1970s with 'Arabella' and 'Snap Out of It'- the former has riffs which wouldn't be out of place at a Black Sabbath gig, and the latter has an almost T-Rex sounding beat.It's as if the four-piece have rummaged through their record collection and taken snippets of the best sounds from across the decades, yet the result is a record which is entirely original.

'No.1 Party Anthem' and 'Mad Sounds' give the listener a more chilled out break in the middle of the album, with the former sounding almost like Lennon at times, and the latter wouldn't be out of place on a Lou Reed record. Josh Homme provides additional vocals on 'Knee Socks' and 'One for the Road', cementing his role in the influence and composition of AM. Recorded between August 2012 and June 2013 in LA and Rancho De La Luna (in Joshua Tree, California), the American influence is apparent on 'AM' and its predecessors 'Humbug' and 'Suck It and See'. LA has brought that air of confidence and swagger which comes so easily to our friends across the pond, transforming the four modest lads from Sheffield into bona fide rock stars. AM comes to a close with a phenomenal adaptation of John Cooper Clarke's poem 'I Wanna Be Yours'. Turner has described the challenge of putting Cooper Clarke's words to music without the result sounding like The Fall, and the band have done it fantastically; creating a lush and romantic three minute masterpiece.

The album is undoubtedly a dance floor record, but it still has the air of whimsical melancholy which Turner writes so well. It's sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, but instead of shagging the nearest groupie  at the end of the night you're calling your ex. AM is not that far from the tales on 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' of pouring your heart out in a drunken text in the taxi ride home, but it's a far cry from where the band started off all those years ago. I'd go as far to say it's their best album yet by far, but maybe I've just been seduced by their sexy new sound. Regardless, it's on repeat until I fall asleep (spilling drinks on my settee), and probably will be for a good while yet.