What is “The Car”?

On Oct. 21, the band Arctic Monkeys released their seventh studio album, “The Car.” Many have been waiting for almost four years for the highly-anticipated project! 

This album is 37 minutes long and consists of 10 tracks. It is made up of many genres such as rock, funk, lounge music, and baroque pop, which is straying away from the genres typically found in their previous albums. This album has many songs about love, doubt, and longing.

My personal favorite

One of the leading singles that came out from the album was “Body Paint,” my personal favorite. This song has an amazing flow with beautiful lyrics about loving somebody. This track has already made an appearance on the social media platform “TikTok” for the catchy lyrics and beat. This song would definitely be played in a waiting room; hinted at in the genre description for the album.

The songs I liked

“I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am,” which was the funk part of the album, was also one of my favorites. This song has an amazing beat, but has complicated and hard-to-understand lyrics. My interpretation of the song was mainly about being at a party with many people ⎯ not knowing if you belong.  It’s stated by the artist and different news outlets that you have to interpret what you think the song means. 

The next song I really enjoyed is “Jet Skis On The Moat.” The beat is very catchy and different, and the lyrics are very deep within this track. The song has a hint of hollowness to it. It’s almost the same feeling of growing apart from someone, which is something I can relate to. Another song that I found to be interesting was “Big Ideas.” This song has a lot of piano, which is something I really loved about the song. Arctic Monkeys did an amazing job creating the beat and the lyrics. The lyrics say that they have done this so many times and that they have given all they can give, almost like they are getting tired.

The last song on this list and album is “Perfect Sense”; this was a song I could very much relate to. The song kept repeating “it takes what it takes,” which I say to myself everyday. 

The songs I disliked

The first song on this album was also one of the lead singles, which is called “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball”; this was definitely not my favorite. This was hyped up for a long time, however after the song’s release, many were disappointed with the song due to the fact that the lyrics didn’t flow. The song had a confusing tone and was off- putting. Many said the same and even wrote articles about their opinion.

“Sculptures of Anything Goes” is a song addressed to a possible love interest and could be a love song, but Alex Turner, the lead vocalist and who writes all the songs, is definitely not fawning over this interest. It’s not very clear what the purpose of the song is, but some speculate it is a song about an ex-partner or problems in a current relationship. 

The song “Hello You” reminds me of their past album “AM,” and is one of the more upbeat songs on this album. It also has some rhymes which I have never really noticed in an Arctic Monkeys song before. This song has amazing lyrics, and like most of the songs on this album, the meaning is left up to the listeners! “Mr Schwartz,” upon first listen doesn’t have a deep meaning, but it’s almost like Turner is trying to be someone he’s not. We see a theme in this album where the more important deeper songs are slower. The song didn’t resonate with me which left me disappointed. “The Car,” the title track of the album, is a slower song that describes a day going to different places throughout the day ⎯ at least that’s what I thought. 

The future for “The Car”

What I see for the future of this album is that it’s not going to be successful at the start, but as time goes on and people age, they will appreciate the work Arctic Monkeys put into this album. I feel as if it will get re-discovered in a few years just like “AM” and will blow up on social media. In my opinion, this album was art – and although I didn’t like all the songs, I thoroughly enjoyed most of them. Overall, I give this album a 6/10 for the lyrics, the meanings, and the amount of effort put into it.