'Seductive' is the adjective that was used most often in describing The Last Shadow Puppets' (Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner, The Rascals' Miles Kane, producer/drummer James Ford, string arranger Owen Pallett and bassist Zach Dawes) long-awaited sophomore album Everything You've Come to Expect (2016), which was released in April this year.
The album creators describe it as "a more open and expansive work than its predecessor, wearing its influences less obviously on its sleeve – by turns the album is soaring, snarling and breathlessly seductive". describes the opening track, "Aviation", as "a masterclass in pop seduction" before pointing out that "one of [the album's] sustained charms is that each track comes as a surprise, a slow-burn, a new flavour of seduction". Pitchfork's Laura Snapes observes - sardonically - that the album is "a lavish California confection [...] it makes very clear that frontmen Alex Turner and Miles Kane are sexy men with sexy lives having lots of sexy sex with their sexy girlfriends".
All that Californian millionaire bachelor debonair and charisma-oozing rock star swagger may be too much to stomach over an entire album - especially when its shadowed by a real life incident of obnoxiously entitled behaviour towards a female music journalist - but TLSP's brand of highly literary symphonic pop is delightfully irresistible in small doses. Take "Miracle Aligner", for example, which can be seen as a lyrical cousin to Arctic Monkeys' "Brianstorm":
'Often the humble kind but he can’t denyHe was born to blow your mindOr something along those linesTonightTell him what you want and, babyHe can find you anything you needTell him what you’re needingCome on, Miracle alignerGo and get ‘em tigerGet down on your kneesGet down on your knees again'
Lyrics: Genius
What sort of 'miracles' are being 'aligned' here? Given that 'All of our exchanges are by candle light' and 'Go and get ‘em tiger' is Mary Jane Watson's message of empowerment to Peter Parker in Sam Raimi's Spiderman series, its safe to presume that they are of the romantic/sexual kind. Turner's smooth, melodic and clever wordplay recreate the seductive aura that the smooth operator he describes effortlessly emanates ('So what’s the wish? He’ll make it come true/ Simple as a line out of a Doo Wop tune/ He’ll make the moves'). There's also that sense of laidback playfulness (which certainly comes across in the music video), which makes a nice contrast to the taut precision that typically characterizes Turner's work with Arctic Monkeys. Who wouldn't be seduced by the drowsy yet sleek retro-ish atmosphere and dastardly clever songwriting?
