Arctic Monkeys have always had a unique ability to frame a narrative. As a lyricist, Alex Turner has always had a novelistic flair, expressed in succinct, down-to-Earth one-liners. As the band have evolved, this instinct has simply deepened and shifted, ranging from Turner’s work on the Submarine score through to the languid scenes offered by ‘Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino’.
New album ‘The Car’ is incoming, with Arctic Monkeys dropping unheard material into their live sets. Headlining Reading and Leeds in triumphant fashion, the Sheffield simians have now shared the album’s lead single in full, and it’s a cinematic jewel.
A slow-burning triumph, ‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’ leads neatly away from ‘Tranquility…’ echoing its zero gravity feel while adding a languid string section worthy of a Bond theme.
Alex Turner’s half-spoken, half-sung vocal is superb, moving from plaintive narrative through to those falsetto notes on “can we be sure there’s a mirrorball for me…?”
We’re hearing aspects of Lee Hazelwood, and perhaps Sheffield bard Richard Hawley, in the arrangement, while the lyrics display Alex Turner’s genius to the full: “And how’s that insatiable appetite? / For the moment whеn you look them in the eyеs / And say: Baby, it’s been nice…”
Both subtle and striking, ‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’ feels like the perfect way to ease fans into a new chapter.
Check it out below.
