Album: AM

Artist: Arctic Monkeys

Year: 2013

Reviewed By: glueckschmerz

Arctic Monkeys, a British rock band, released their fifth studio-album "AM" on the 9th September 2013. The album consists of twelve tracks, dealing with themes such as lust, frustration, isolation, and drug abuse. Alex Turner, who is the lead vocalist and songwriter of the band, described "AM" as a "chemical reaction."

The record incorporates elements from multiple genres and features contributions from Elvis Costello's drummer Pete Thomas, Queens of the Stone Age front-man Josh Homme and Domino's Bill Ryder-Jones. There is a unique blend of retro rock and 90s hip–hop that comes across song after song, but you can also find tunes of contemporary R&B and Blues.

https://youtu.be/bpOSxM0rNPM

The album starts with the track "Do I Wanna Know?", which is the collection's finest rock song and serves as an establishing shot for the whole album.

https://youtu.be/6366dxFf-Os

A true highlight of AM, "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?" is not only a devious little earworm, but also an exploration of a more adventurous loose psychedelic direction, met with some of Turner's finest melodrama lyrics of a night out turned sour.

https://youtu.be/nyuo9-OjNNg

Ending the album with one of its more open and experimental moments, "I Wanna Be Yours" shows the band exploring the refreshing space in their sound before an abrupt end.

I personally enjoyed this album a lot and think that it's their best record yet!