Arctic Monkeys have released the stylized video for their single, “Four Out of Five,” from their new album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, which was released May 11.
Tranquility is the first new record from the group, who formed in Sheffield in 2002, since their 2013 album AM. In an unusual move, the band did not release any singles prior to the full album release on May 11. According to Pitchfork, singer Alex Turner recently said of the decision: “Jamie was really keen on that idea, and I guess people at Domino. But it didn’t come from me. I understand it, I think.”
The decision to release the album in its entirety may have been partly based on Tranquility’s overarching conceptual framework. “Four Out of Five” marks the group’s evolution to a more theatrical aesthetic. The video, about a taqueria on the moon, uses smooth tracking shots and a muted color palette to create the science fiction tone. With its lounge singer timbre, Turner’s voice is reminiscent of famous brit-pop frontman Jarvis Cocker, and the accompanying video matches the track’s tone with its cinematic grace.
In an interview with Pitchfork, Turner spoke about feeling comfortable in his role as songwriter: “Certainly more so than when I was 18. There was something wrapped up in that word that used to make me uncomfortable, but I’m marginally more comfortable with it now.”
He goes on to discuss the new track, “Four Out of Five,” by saying, “Yeah. I lifted it from this book called Amusing Ourselves to Death. I was attracted to the idea as soon as I heard that phrase; even though it was in this book from [1985] it still seemed relevant—more relevant than it probably was when the guy made it up. I sang it into the tape recorder when I was making stuff up one day, and it ended up falling in a place where the implication was it was the name of this taco shop on the roof of this hotel complex.”
Check out the new video below:
Photo Credit: Marisa Rose Ficara
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