Engineering the Sound: Arctic Monkeys – AM

Most musical acts are hard put to maintain both relevance and quality throughout their entire career; Arctic Monkeys, though, have made simultaneous mainstream success and critical acclaim look effortless. In fact, despite one of the most explosive debut albums in the history of pop music, they peaked internationally with their fifth album: the tour-de-force that was 2013's AM.

A commercial and critical hit, AM was buoyed by lead single Do I Wanna Know?, which aided a Monkeys’ breakthrough in the US. New heights were also reached in the UK where they became the first band on an independent label to debut consecutively at #1 with all five of their albums.

For AM, the band once again employed long-time producer James Ford, in addition to electronic heavyweight Ross Orton, to create an album that fuses hard rock and R&B in a way that screams musical growth done right. Thunderous Sabbath-inspired riffs appear right alongside bass lines drawn from West Coast hip-hop.

“With AM, it was just simply an experiment,” frontman Alex Turner summarised to NME, “But at least if you’re doing an experiment I think you’re moving in a healthier direction.” As far as experiments go, AM was a raving success, named the best album of 2013 by NME and widely regarded as the best of the band’s career.

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