arctic monkeys

[Ste2K6]

NME gets the band's eye view of the most eagerly-awaited second album of the decade

If ever there was pressure on a band to come up with a killer second
album, then surely it's this lot. A year ago Arctic Monkeys were preparing to release what would bcome one of the albums of the decade so far. A critical success and the fastest-selling British LP of all time, 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' threw down the gauntlet for not just the Sheffield band, but every new act on the planet.



However, if one group can be trusted to follow it up, then it's the Monkeys. They've already offered us two helpings of new material with the 'Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?' and 'Leave Before The Lights Come On' EPs. Here, in their own words and pictures - these studio shots were snapped by the band themselves - the boys give us the low down on recording album number two.

Alex Turner: 'We started off getting this practice room where we tried to write. There were lots of bits left over and we just tried to sort it all out, get organised a bit. The songs are very different from last time, For the first album we locked ourselves away in the middle of nowhere, whereas this time we've been out in the Smoke, going out and stuff. I think that's maybe reflected in the songs a little bit.'



'In terms of sound, a lot of the ones we've done so far are a bit full-on. A bit like 'From The Ritz To The Rubble', 'The View From The Afternoon', that sort of thing. We've tried to get proper rhythms - it seems like in rock there's a lot of boring rhythms. We've tried to experiment - that's a bit of a dangerous word, but we've tried to push on with that. We'd be in soundchecks and it would be, 'Fucking hello, what's that?' so we'd record it on a phone. We've ended up with breaks almost. I've always been into beats, we were into that before we were into The Strokes.'



'I don't think the new stuff will shock people - I don't think anybody expects us to do the same as the first album but with strings. That's what bands do a lot of the time, isn't it? We're not old enough to do that yet! We still do a lot of the same things as we used to do: hanging out or whatever and we're still involved with girls and stuff. But I wouldn't want to write the same thing again. We've been writing about things we've seen, people we've met. It doesn't feel like I've gone onto a different thing. I've just written about what's happening, little incidents. It sounds very dull, doesn't it? But I guess you'll just have to hear it and decide whether it's bollocks or not!'

[charles_barles]

thanks for the article
do you have the full pages scaned?

i really dunno what to expect. all those talks about the album kinda make me nervous.
arggg i can't wait 'til it comes out!

[Ste2K6]

I got this off a friend and she used her phone to take the pics so no, sorry.

I cant wait to hear the albums title.

[charles_barles]

i hope it won't be self titled. i hate it when albums are self titled.
_________________
Great, great minds against themselves conspire.

[Ste2K6]

Especially if its after the 1st. If any has to be self titled it should be the 1st

[charles_barles]

hehe exactly, though some artist do that.. i also hate it when the album's named after a song in it. but it isn't as bad as the former.
_________________
Great, great minds against themselves conspire.