AM

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<b>100 Best Albums</b> <i>AM</i> feels like the record Arctic Monkeys had been building up to for the preceding half-decade. There was a sense within the group that their 2007 second album, <i>Favourite Worst Nightmare</i>, had been rushed and the Sheffield quartet began recalibrating how they went about thing. An exploration in new sounds and textures followed, with psychedelic-tinged desert rock on 2009’s <i>Humbug</i> and muscular riffs and powerful grooves on 2011’s <i>Suck It and See</i>. It was an approach that reached a glorious culmination in 2013 on <i>AM</i>. An arena tour playing second fiddle to The Black Keys in the US in 2012 had seen Alex Turner and co spend their shows trying to win over disinterested crowds and the stint instilled in them a desire to make people dance. It was with this in mind that they entered writing sessions in Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, California to begin work on their fifth album. There was a boldness at play too, a willingness to move away from the sound of a band playing together in a room and combine ’70, Black Sabbath-style riffs with the sleek production of the Dr. Dre records they had bonded over as teenager. Out of that emerged the most forward-thinking record of their career, a mesmerizing blend of slick, rhythmic rock ’n’ roll with an R&B swing to it. It was a delicate balancing act, a melding of two sonic styles executed to perfection. No wonder “Do I Wanna Know?” was both album opener and the record’s chief calling card. Over its four and a half minute, it was a flawless demonstration of everything that <i>AM</i> was about: soulful hooks and spiky riffs set to a beat that sounded both brawny and minimalist. Across <i>AM</i>’s 12 song, there were dynamic shifts but the sonic palette remained broadly the same: Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie as rewired by Timbaland on “Arabella,” yearning indie rock meets hip-hop restraint on “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?,” swirling, nocturnal balladeering on “No. 1 Party Anthem,” and soulful future-disco on “Knee Sock.” .

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