Brooklyn Heights
I usually sit around with the guitar in reach and grab it when I get an idea. Sometimes it lasts five minutes, and sometimes it lasts all day. I think New York is a good place to write in general because it’s a grid. It’s organized. You know where you are on the map. That centers you and your imagination is perhaps freer to roam. – Alex Turner talking to Vanity Fair in 2011
In 2009 Richard Ayoade began shooting a film based on Joe Dunthorne’s 2008 comic novel about 15-year-old Welsh lad Oliver Tate and his pyromaniac girlfriend Jordana Bevan. Ayoade was reluctant to ask Turner to contribute to his indie film as he knew it was a rather big undertaking.
We knew each other quite well by then, but I was worried – it’s a bit like asking someone to help you move house. Does he really need to be writing more songs now? Maybe he wants a break from an album a year? ‘Alex, can you sneak in another five songs?’ – Richard Ayoade talking to Independent
Later Ayoade would reflect on the film saying that the soundtrack was the best part and a huge reason for the film’s success.
“It was just like getting good stuff for free. I did nothing and it made my film a million times better. That’s the dream collaboration: you do nothing and the other person is great. That’s how I want every film to be from now on. Alex’s music was the thing I worried about least.” – Ayoade
Turner downplayed the whole process and workload admitting that he had songs already half written before he was asked to contribute, and that the songs simply fit the film by chance.
Originally however the two discussed the possibility of Turner recording several covers for the film instead of writing original work in the style of Scott Walker covering Jacques Brel, a famous french Belgian songwriter in poet, who originally inspired the likes of Walker and Bowie. Ayoade was a bit hesitant of asking Turner to write original score as to not appear pompous about his own film needing such a grand request, but clandestinely hoped Turner would suggest it himself.
Some of the songs originally discussed for covers were John Cale tunes – ‘Fear is a Man’s Best Friend’ and ‘Big White Cloud’. A 1965 tune ‘I’m Not Sayin’ by Nico, the German singer & model made famous by Fellini’s La Dolce Vita and Warhol’s Chelsea Girls film appearances. Another discussed cover was Irving Berlin’s ‘How Deep is the Ocean’ covered by many famous Jazz singers and musicians for which there is allegedly an unreleased version of Turner’s cover possibly still stuck in a studio somewhere in London.
“I had some tunes that I’d been sitting around playing, I never thought they were really gonna be Arctic Monkeys tunes, just because it were me picking at an acoustic guitar. And that’s definitely not what Monkeys is about. It were just songs that I didn’t really know what they were gonna become…” – Alex Turner
After an exhaustive tour supporting Humbug, Turner found it more suiting and refreshing to be writing and playing acoustic song at his Brooklyn home shared with his girlfriend Alexa Chung, who would occasionally drop in to provide critique or admiration for the new direction. After reading Dunthorne’s novel at Ayoade’s persistent requests, and after watching clips from the film set in Wales, Turner realized that some of the material he’s been working on fits perfectly with the overall direction of the film.
“There was something about ’em – quite sparse, just letting the song be the focus. I had a couple, ‘It’s Hard to Get Around the Wind’ and ‘Hiding Tonight…’ It just occurred to me maybe I should play them to Richard, see what he thought about them. Then I wrote a couple more – not necessarily thinking, ‘Oh, I’m writing specifically for that film.’ But I had it in mind…” – Alex Turner
While Turner swears by the claim that he did not synchronize the lyrics to the scenes while he admits there was some shuffling of song structures to better fit the scenes in terms of length, there are several very strange coincidences with the lyrics matching the film. Particularly the lyrics “”fingers dimming the lights” from “Stuck on a Puzzle” while Oliver dims the lights in his parents’ bedroom to determine if his parents’ level of intimacy. Second one being ‘want the world on a dessert spoon’ from “It’s Hard to Get Around the Wind” which matches a scene of a dessert spoon next to some custard. It’s quiet possible the director was influenced by the lyrics and made sure things match up more, but it’s also quiet possible the whole thing is rather serendipitous.
It’s noted that Turner and Ayoade initially bonded over The Sweeney, a 1970s British television police drama, interest in clowns, and the distaste for clichés. The TV show, The Sweeney, was particularly referenced when Ayoade created storyboards for “Fluorescent Adolescent” music video after the band requested the video feature clowns fighting.
“I don’t think it’s summat I’d be comfortable or feel qualified to do, a film soundtrack,” says Turner in his broad Sheffield accent. “I wouldn’t really know where to start. And now, if somebody tomorrow asked us to do one, I don’t think I’m the man for that job, really. But this was an exception. I’m mates with Richard, and the way it came about, it were like a natural process.” – Turner talking about Submarine
In a funny tid bit story told by Turner, the singer was actually taken aback by the physical similarity between Submarine’s lead actor Craig Roberts and Turner himself. Further accentuated by their choice in clothing and haircuts, causing many fans to believe it was Turner himself on the cover for the album and film poster of Submarine when in fact it was Craig Roberts.
“When we went to the cast-and-crew screening, which was where I met him [Craig Roberts] for the first time, Craig came up to me and said, ‘You do realise we look an awful lot alike?’ Quite funny. But yeah, he actually looks like my dad when me dad was younger. We took some pictures together and showed ’em to me dad…” – Alex Turner
James ford who was once again assigned the seat behind the console described the studio in East London, One Inch studios, as brilliant studio that’s been stripped down to its essentials. A 60s one‑inch eight‑track tape machine and a mono half‑inch from the ’50s resembling a giant oven occupied the studio space.
The entire project was recorded live with Turner singing and playing the acoustic, Bill Ryder-Jones, of the Coral, played electric guitar, while James Ford was filling in on the piano. Ford would later add drums and bass guitar to ‘Piledriver Waltz’ and ‘Stuck on the puzzle’. The process of recording the EP straight into the mono half-inch recorder, and going to the eight track recorder for more complex songs, while preserving the minimalistic analog way of thinking throughout the recording influenced what Ford would suggest for Arctic Monkeys’ new album ‘Suck it and See’.
“It sounded great and we really enjoyed that process of not having to look at a computer, not having the option to tweak and fiddle with things. And Alex is such a good singer and performer — if he’s pushed to do it, he can do the whole take in one go. A lot of singers these days would be like, ‘Oh you can fix that or tune that in Pro Tools?’, and I think that’s a really negative thing. I think he really enjoyed being pushed in that way. So it was with that idea that we went on to approach the Arctics’ album.” – James Ford
Last year I was trying to come to terms with the idea that I’m a songwriter. I’ve gotten into country music, which I never really had a connection with or understood before. But someone like Townes Van Zandt is amazing– that’s what music’s all about, when you hear something and you don’t really have a choice but to think, “Oh fuck, all right, I’m going there then.” That’s what I got with his records.
Also, I read this story about Iggy Pop where he said there was a TV show he used to watch when he was young, and the guy would ask kids to write letters into the show, and the letters had to be less than 25 words– and he applied that to writing “No Fun”. So, since we always do songs with a thousand words, we thought we should try one that had less than 30, which turned out to be “Brick by Brick”. But I got the drummer to sing it because it seemed like the right thing to do. – A.T. talking to Pitchfork
That song introduced us to a new side of ourselves. Even though it is dumbed down, we know it, and it’s got a sense of humor; it says “I wanna rock’n’roll” like three times, which is hilarious. There have always been jokes all over our songs; I originally started writing lyrics to make my friends crack a smile, which is difficult. “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” is like one big fucking gag. I know my lyrics might be weird to some, but they’re not like that to me because I know where they come from– I know the secret. – A.T talking to pitchfork
Sometimes writing songs is like waiting in for deliveries. They give you a window, and your washing machine is going to show up, whether the window is the album or something you’re thinking like, “This thing is going to come to me.” But on the other hand, you can’t just sit around and wait. You have to just do it and get it wrong sometimes in order to advance. I’ve had a lot of practice with that now. And that’s me usually sitting or standing or pacing around or whatever, but it’s all an internal tussle. – A.T talking to Spin Magazine
While living in New York’s Williamsburg with his then girlfriend Alexa Chung, Turner continued writing songs. He was particularly interested in writing songs in major chord progressions in the direction of “Cornerstone”.
The song “Piledriver Waltz” originally written and recorded for the movie Submarine was used as somewhat of a guide and inspiration for the next full length Arctic Monkeys album. Turner alluding in an interview with Independent:
“Absolutely. It always does, I’ve come to realise. It’s not like they’re that far apart, in terms of when I came up wi’ ’em. But obviously the difference is, those songs that are on the new Monkeys album have been through that mill – you know, the other three lads in the band. But in terms of songwriting, I think always one thing’s built on the last.”
The band opted to continue on with the plans to record the album in California as they reminisced about Humbug sessions. Originally interested in renting out the infamous Shangri‑La Studios in Malibu, named after the mythical Tibetan paradise. The studio had been owned by Bob Dylan and The Band who also lived there on occasion, and was a major source of inspiration for Dylan as well as the likes of Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Mark Knopfler, and many others. Arctic Monkeys were also interested in working with another producer, Rick Rubin, who had recently purchased the Shangri-La Studios.
Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be that time for the Monkeys, as the studio was unavailable for the dates the band needed so they looked further down the street and stumbled on another iconic studio, Sound City Studios in Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles. The studio most recently famous for capturing the iconic Nirvana’s Nevermind, as well as other greats from the 70s including Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. The band attracted to the very dated 70s look of the studio, as the place had not been majorly renovated since, declared it as the place they will record Suck it and See. The studio also featured a custom built Neve 8028 desk and Studer A800 Mark II 24‑track , and was lacking the built in Pro Tools rig, which was a great fit as the band wanted to continue the analog tape approach to their recording. Ford believed a “Steve Albini” type approach of recording a natural roomy sound without much fluff would serve the album well. The goal was to achieve the type of feel that you are standing in the room with the band, and you can hear the space around drums.
After booking the sessions, the band moved into Hollywood and made the short journey across Laurel Canyon through Hollywood Hills on a daily basis. It was during this period that Turner and the band go to see more of LA’s glitz and glamours of West Hollywood and Hollywood Hills particularly, the latter is where Turner and Helders would eventually make a permanent residence. Turner was especially impressed, noticing LA’s rich rock ‘n‘ roll history and everything the city can provide from vintage recording studios to Hollywood-grade music video production studios.
Turner made a point to have the songs fully finished and well rehearsed before heading to the studio rather than having to make creative decisions on the go.
The band set up live in the center of the live recording room at Studio City just as if they were at their rehearsal space all facing each other trying to capture a pure live performance. Ford using a minimal setup as to not overproduce the band with an overwhelming microphone setup, continuing his production mindset from working on Submarine EP. Borrowing from their “natural” sounding debut album, Arctic Monkeys committed to recording one full song per day, as to not give themselves time to rethink it. Occasionally adding instrument overdubs where absolutely needed such as guitar solos and percussions according to the band. As well as recording most of the vocals separately afterwards. Although frequently using the live vocal take, most prominently noticed on “Library Pictures”.
The entire recording and mixing process lasted just over 5 weeks and was one of the quickest sessions James Ford had ever produced. The album was mixed at studio 2 at Sunset Sound in LA, on a Neve 8088 console with flying faders by Craig Silvey. Silvey, who had recently finished working with Arcade Fire seemed the right fit for the band to continue their analog tape sounding album. The band would show up late afternoons to hear the latest mixes from Silvey, and would occasionally take them out on car drives to blast with the windows down to get a feel for the tracks with the Hollywood Hills sign fading in their rear view mirror. The band declined to do major changes during the mix process other than adding a catchy guitar line in ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala’.
“‘She’s Thunderstorms’ was a tricky one. It’s the cymbals thing — I always think loads and loads of kind of swoshy ride cymbals makes it harder to get that sense of space. With ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala’, we added an extra guitar part actually at the mix, which was quite mad. A weird, descend‑y guitar part. Most of the time, we didn’t have to make loads of changes. We were all on the same page.” – James Ford
After the album was finished, the band settled on Suck It and See as the final title after discussing the pros and cons of other proposed titles such as The Thunder-Suckle Fuzz Canyon, The Rain-Shaped Shimmer Trap, The Blond-O-Sonic Rape Alarm, and Thriller. Some of the proposed album names as well as song names were directly influenced by the various creative names printed on the guitar pedals and effect pedals the band used for recordings. They settled on the Suck It and See after one of the album’s Singles. Even though Turner has lived in America for a few years by this time, most of his friends and acquaintances were British which would explain the somewhat provocative LP name. Although the American press pressingly jabbed into the Arctic Monkeys’ album title for it’s more devious and sexual innuendo alternative meaning, the album title comes from a well known British idiom or phrase which in translation answers the question “Is this any good?” by “Try it and find out” or “Suck it and see”.
This sexual innuendo narrative was prominently pushed by Lisa Kennedy, a conservative talk host, while interviewing the band for iHeart Radio. She pressed the band on issues of the album title and if they will have any regrets looking back on their music regarding it’s sexual innuendos. Turner assured her it was not sexual in nature and in fact misunderstood in America. The band new she was out to get them however as she opened up the lighthearted interview with a pleasant “Alex, are you drunk?” before following up with “Is suck it and see the answer to ‘Does your weiner taste like cotton candy?’” resulting in one of the more awkward interviews the band was a part of.
Although not officially counted as a single, the first release off of “Suck it and See” was “Brick by Brick”. The video for the song produced by Focus Creeps was released on March 4th 2011 by Domino. To compensate their absence from the UK and to showcase their loyalty to Sheffield, the Arctic Monkeys started to showcase some of their love for their hometown by featuring subtle nods to Sheffield. The simplistic music video for Brick by Brick features a woman playing the new song on vinyl with Sheffield Coat of Arms on the record label, occasionally smoking while waiting impatiently for someone from the band to appear on the screen.
While there are certain nods to England and Sheffield in particular left only for their home fans to actually recognize, most of the videos on Suck it and See are directly showcasing their new found love for southern California, particularly Los Angeles.
“We were in Miami on tour once and we just got off a long flight to there and we had an idea for a song called ‘Brick by Brick’ and so we wrote it that night just sorta in a bar. But it was quite loose, we thought about it as the concept of a song and all these things that you want to do– brick by brick– and we just made a list of them that was probably three times as long as what it ended up over that night and the next few weeks.” – AT talking to NME
But the first single from the album, “Don’t Sit Down Cause I’ve Moved your Chair”, with video once again produced by Focus Creeps, was released on April 12th 2011 followed by the music video two days later.
While “Don’t sit Down cause I’ve moved your chair” features some footage of Wednesday, a popular Sheffield soccer club, it’s mostly just bright psychedelic colors blending in various neons and is more “experienced” than seen. With the heavy handed single out for the masses, rumors and assumption quickly erupted into a mass frenzy that the band had turned too stoner rock or grunge. If anything, fast were mostly let down as the rest of the album is not at all grungy but rather romantic and pop in the best way possible. With it’s massive VHS-esque overwhelmingly red font the writing “Don’t” splatters proudly across a neon green and blue Alex Turner singing on the song artwork. Arctic Monkeys debuted the new single in America live on Letterman. Turner appearing in a black leather jacket, blue jeans, sporting a perfectly messy long hair down to his neck, delivered the perfectly synchronized performance and every bit as tight as the album recording. A week earlier (double check) the band debuted the song in England on Later with Jools Holland, with Turner featuring an exact same outfit and haircut delivering a pitch perfect performance all the same. During the same Jools Holland appearance, the band also debuted “The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala” and “Library Pictures”.
“The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala” was chosen as the second single from the album, initially debuted as a music video on 7 July 2011. The Single was released on 15 August 2011 supported by the B side “Little Illusion Machine (Wirral Riddler)” sang by Miles Kane. Following the trend of earlier music videos, “The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala” was once again directed by Focus Creeps and features the model Scarlett Kapella. The very grainy film style video features the band doing general “rock band” things on the California coast, driving in a convertible or taking glamour shots on the rooftops overlooking the beach.
“Suck It and See” was selected as the third single and the music video was released 16 September 2011. In a rare move the band also released a music video for “Evil Twin” which follows the story of an LA biker and his girl, starring Matt Helders and American model Breana McDow as his “girlfriend”. The two later started dating in real life and subsequently married in Rome in what some would call a perfect movie like ending on a backdrop of a floral canopy at Villa Aurelia, a historic villa with very expansive gardens.
Music video for their fourth official single. “Black Treacle” came out January 5th, and completes the story of Matt Helders and his pursuit of his love interests. Not to miss all the action this time, Alex Turner, makes his cameo appearance as he readies his hair in the bathroom debuting his new “American” haircut for the first time. The single also included a B side, “You and I”, featuring Turner’s idol, Richard Hawley. The band also released a music video of the band recording the song and riding motorcycles around town. The band released the most videos for a single album, a total of 7, marking a new career high for the band confirming their love for the art form.
Arctic Monkeys’ fourth album had once again gone straight to number 1 in the UK followed by a barrage of positive reviews.