http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6Je6OnzdFI Up until 2009, Alex Turner was musics foremost purveyor of the real but on this record, things took a turn to the abstract. Widely looked upon as the bands moody phase, the dark spirit that pervaded the albums heart replicated itself when it hit the road, with each and every live performance punctuated with floppy hair, faces-to-the floor stage routines and a fed-up Turner barely acknowledging his die-hard fans. It was a time of transition for the Monkeys and many failed to accept their embracing of a more ominous sound and surrealist outlook, but those people missed out on one of the groups finest albums of their career. If you think that Turner has only recently removed taxi-ranks and knackered Converse from his lyrical arsenal in order to focus on mans most unsolvable mystery, woman, then youre sorely mistaken. Humbug marks the true point where he traded in shy romantic propositioning for fully-fledged sexual bravado. Slinging sleaze in every other sentence, My Propeller is a saucy invitation to awaken a sleeping appendage and Dangerous Animals a brooding, impatient cry to get down and dirty; filthy odes no doubt inspired by Turners blossoming romance with Alexa Chung. Yet, whilst the meanings of certain Humbug songs are easy to unravel, it also signalled the beginning of Turners oblique and cryptic lyricism, found on the poetic, evocative likes of Potion Approaching and Fire and the Thud. Theres even an element of the carnival to the record and closer, The Jewellers Hands closely resembles Dylan circa-Highway 61 in both image and sound but it is in fact straight-talking romantic paean Cornerstone that takes the plaudits for album highlight. An innovative, somewhat darker album that divided the opinions of the critics and those of a loyal fan-base. But the Arctics were never as delightfully contrary as this again. Best Tracks: Secret Door, Cornerstone, Dangerous Animals
A 22 year old English Literature graduate from Birmingham. I am passionate about music, literature and football, in particular, my beloved Aston Villa. Lover of words and consumer of art, music is the very air that I breathe.