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Humbug (album)

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Humbug[4] is the upcoming third album by the British alternative rock band Arctic Monkeys. Like their last release - 2007's Favourite Worst Nightmare - Humbug will be released first in Japan, on 19 August 2009, followed by Australia, on 21 August 2009. It will then be released in the UK on 24 August 2009 and in the US the following day. [5] The release precedes the band's headline performances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals at the end of that week. The album's cover was revealed on the band's website on 22 June 2009. The album was leaked onto the Internet on 29 July 2009.

Recording

The band started writing songs for the album towards the end of summer 2008, with lead singer Alex Turner suggesting that the inspiration for the first few guitar riffs came while the band were attending the Latitude Festival in Suffolk.[6] Tracks were written through the end of 2008, with recording taking place around the band's touring schedule towards late 2008 and early 2009.

Co-produced by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, the album was wholly recorded in the United States. Homme-produced tracks recorded in Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert alongside New York recordings produced - as per the second album - by James Ford[1], who also produced the album The Age of the Understatement by Turner's side-project The Last Shadow Puppets.

Early soundbites of tracks from the album appeared in the band's periodical video diary on YouTube.[7]

Sound

Early previews of the album suggest that it is a departure from the style of the band's first two albums, with a prevailing influence from lead singer Alex Turner's The Last Shadow Puppets - the same "laconic croon" has been adopted by the whole band, "injecting the Arctics with a new sound that sends them onto wild soundscaping adventures".[8]. The album has been described as has having a "carnival-esque atmosphere", but it is described as a "spooky and ethereal trip, a lysergic cavalcade that haunts every track."[8]

The band themselves suggested that the album would be "full-on", with tracks influenced by Black Sabbath.[6] On ClashMusic.com, Alex Turner revealed that the band had listened to Jimi Hendrix and Cream while writing the new album.[9]

Track listing

The album's tracklisting was confirmed on the band's website on 1 June 2009.[10] The album appears for preorder in the iTunes store with an eleventh track; 'Sketchead'[11]. A listing on HMV Japan later confirmed the identity of the two Japanese bonus tracks as "Red Right Hand" (a cover version of a song by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds performed on earlier tours) and "I Haven't Got My Strange"[12].

No.TitleLength
1."My Propeller"3:28
2."Crying Lightning"3:42
3."Dangerous Animals"3:24
4."Secret Door"3:41
5."Potion Approaching"3:32
6."Fire and the Thud"3:50
7."Cornerstone"3:17
8."Dance Little Liar"4:43
9."Pretty Visitors"3:40
10."The Jeweller's Hands"5:42
Japanese bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Red Right Hand" (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds cover)4:20
12."I Haven't Got My Strange"1:30
iTunes bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Sketchead" 

Singles

  • The first single of the album will be "Crying Lightning", as was confirmed by the band on their website on June 29th, 2009. It was released on the 6th of July, when it was played on BBC Radio 1 and was available for download from iTunes after midnight that day. The music video for "Crying Lightning" was exclusively shown on July 24th, 2009 at 11.35pm on Channel 4.

B-sides for the single (released 17th August) will be "Red Right Hand" (Nick Cave cover) and "I Haven't Got My Strange". Both are set too appear on the Japanese edition of "Humbug"

  • "Pretty Visitors" has been announced as Zane Lowe's "Hottest Record in the World" for the week beginning 3rd August, prompting rumours that this will be the second single.

Previews

Some of the material from the new album has been previewed in the bands Tour Diaries entitled "The View From...". "My Propeller", "Cornerstone", "Secret Door" and "Dangerous Animals" have so far been heard in these short videos.

"Pretty Visitors", "Dangerous Animals", "Potion Approaching", "Crying Lightning" and "Secret Door" have also been previewed on what fans call the "Secret Door Link" which is a hidden section of their website where the band uploads 30 second videos that contain short snippets of new material.

On July 30th 2009 a web transmission took place on the band's official site, with the group playing five songs from the album.

References

  1. ^ a b "Arctic Monkeys Confirm New Album Details". MTV UK. 2 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  2. ^ http://www.nme.com/news/arcticmonkeys/38186
  3. ^ a b http://pitchfork.com/news/35485-arctic-monkeys-announce-new-album/
  4. ^ http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=24780572&blogId=493682004
  5. ^ "International Album Release Dates". Arctic Monkeys Official Website. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  6. ^ a b "Arctic Monkeys going 'full on Black Sabbath' for new album". NME. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "The View From... The Birthday Boy". Arctic Monkeys Official YouTube Channel. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  8. ^ a b Harper, Simon (2 June 2009). "Arctic Monkeys Album - First Impression". Clashmusic.com. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  9. ^ http://www.clashmusic.com/news/clash-speaks-to-arctic-monkeys
  10. ^ "Arctic Monkeys Announce Album Release Date & Tracklisting". Arctic Monkeys Official Website. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  11. ^ "iTunes page for Humbug (opens in iTunes)". iTunes. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  12. ^ "Arctic Monkeys New Album!". HMV Japan. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
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