The Last Shadow Puppets: The Age Of The Understatement

Appearing without any fanfare whatsoever, this first side project from the Artic Monkeys front man, Alex Turner, is a truly superb and, predictably epic, affair. Bold and exhilarating, this album is inspired by the wide screen orchestral pop scene of the sixties; with nods towards Scott Walker and early David Bowie as well as the legendary David Axlerod. The result is emphatically triumphant. It owes as much to the romanticism of Richard Hawley and the eclectic approach of The Coral as much as any sixties precursors. The thundering title track is a cinematic patchwork of Morricone-esque themes and rhythmic motifs topped off with a hint of Northern wit. We are then led twisting and turning frantically and energetically along a road of brilliant and bombastic orchestration ('Meeting Place') and genuinely exciting music ('Standing Next to Me'). This album is by no means uplifting, many of these songs are dark and moody yet 'The Age of the Understatement' is a wholeheartedly convincing album that proves the adaptability of Turner and marks him out once and for all as one of the great singer-songwriters of his generation.