The Car (album)
The Car is the seventh studio album by English rock band Arctic Monkeys, released on 21 October 2022 by Domino Recording Company. The album's songs were primarily written by frontman Alex Turner in his Los Angeles home and Paris. It was produced in Suffolk, Paris and London by frequent Arctic Monkeys collaborator James Ford, alongside frequent guest musicians Tom Rowley, Loren Humphrey and Tyler Parkford, and arranged by Bridget Samuels, Ford, and Turner. Drummer Matt Helders took the picture on the album cover, which depicts a white Toyota Camry in an otherwise empty parking garage on a Los Angeles rooftop. Its title refers to said cover and the abundance of vehicular references in the lyrics.
This article is about the album by Arctic Monkeys. For other uses, see Car (disambiguation).The Car
The Car builds upon the sound from the band's previous album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (2018). It features a wide array of genres that include art rock, orchestral rock, lounge pop, baroque pop, and funk, as well as elements of jazz. It also draws influence from soul music, electronic music, glam rock, bossa nova, traditional pop and vintage film soundtracks. Its lyrical content explores nostalgia and show business, specifically the music and film industries.
The album received critical acclaim upon its release. Critics complimented the band's artistic progression, the album's production, and Turner's lyrics, though some felt the band's continued deviation from their earlier indie rock sound would remain polarizing to longtime fans. It was nominated for the 2023 Ivor Novello Awards and the 2024 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, the album also was shortlisted for the 2023 Mercury Prize. The single "There'd Better Be a Mirrorball" was nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. The single "Body Paint" and song "Sculptures of Anything Goes" have been nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance and Best Rock Performance, respectively, at the 66th edition. It became Arctic Monkeys' first album to not reach the top spot of the UK Albums Chart, debuting at number two in ten territories, including the UK, as Taylor Swift's Midnights occupied the top spot. It became the third best-selling vinyl record, as well as the best-selling cassette of 2022 in the country. The album was promoted by the singles "There'd Better Be a Mirrorball", "Body Paint", and "I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am", all of which peaked within the top 25 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as by a global tour and multiple television appearances.
Background and recording[edit]
The band's sixth studio album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino was released in May 2018 to critical acclaim, but its stylistic deviation was polarizing for listeners.[1][2] Right after the South American leg of the tour for that album ended, Turner began thinking of new music with the idea of writing, "a song that could close the show". His intention was to return to a more guitar heavy sound, although not the one seen in previous album AM.[3]
First attempts at writing for the album began in April and May 2019. Initial recordings happened in late 2019 at La Frette, with James Ford again as a producer, but were quickly discarded, with only an early version of track "Hello You" surviving those sessions.[3][4][5] In 2020, Turner went back to Lunar Surface, his home studio in Los Angeles, at first, hell-bent on writing riffs and "making it louder", but the music "didn't want to go there". He wrote and recorded demo versions of the songs, written half on acoustic guitar, half on piano. The album direction was cemented when he landed on the instrumental section of opening track "There'd Better Be a Mirrorball."[6][7]
After the lockdowns, in the summer of 2021, the band got together to record. They chose Butley Priory, an old monastery in Suffolk, as their new studio, after attending several events there. The decision was also inspired by The Great British Recording Studios, a book gifted to Turner by album engineer Loren Humphrey, where he saw pictures of the Stones Mobile Studio unit. With producer Ford, the band rented it out and transformed it into a studio, while also living on-site during the recording.[6][3] Turner described the place as "remote", with the sessions reminding him of their first record, which was also partly recorded in the English countryside. Turner also recounts that there were "no distractions, like in the city. Extra focus, no prying eyes".[8] Turner brought his 16mm film camera and captured footage of the band at work, and Ford was apparently happy with Turner's hobby, as it kept him away from meddling too much with the recording.[7] In London, strings were recorded at RAK Studios’ Studio 1 by Humphrey and Emma Marks and arranged by composer Bridget Samuels, Ford and Turner himself. Later, vocals and overdubs were recorded at La Frette Studios in October 2021.[9]
Artwork and title[edit]
The album's cover artwork was revealed on the same day of the album's announcement.[36] The picture was taken by the band's drummer Matt Helders using a Leica M6 film camera[37] and shows a white Toyota Camry parked alone on the rooftop of a parking garage in Los Angeles.[38][39] Helders was testing an old 90mm lens he had just acquired, and decided to shoot the view from his old apartment window, inspired by the work of photographer William Eggleston. A series of pictures were taken and later shared with lead singer Alex Turner, who was also interested in photography. Turner became fixated on one shot featuring the car, and wrote a song inspired by it that would later become the title of the album.[5][6]