Alex Turner
“That rock ‘n’ roll, eh? That rock ‘n’ roll, it just won’t go away.” Proven time and time again with five albums spanning across seven years, Alex Turner, along with his mates known as Arctic Monkeys have managed to keep rock and roll very much alive and thriving. The unmitigated bravado which is demanded of a front man has also never failed to falter as Alex Turner evolved from the Adidas wearing teenager noting down the goings on of his city to the leather clad rocker writing lyrics that simply ooze sex that he appears as today.
One of the most outstanding things about Alex Turner is his lyrics. He has the ability to not only write heart breaking and beautiful lyrics that can only be described as pure poetry, but a knack for seeing beyond the periphery and simply telling a bitter truth. Where rough lyrics such as, “they’re all infected but he’ll be alright ’cause he’s a scumbag don’t you know,” make up most of Arctic Monkeys’ first album, Suck it And See is home to more emotionally torturous descriptions. “You have got that face that just says ‘baby I was made to break your heart.’”
Not many bands or artists have been able to keep people interested by sticking to their guns and re branding the same old tunes album after album and it’s Alex Turner’s ability to adapt and develop which makes him such an interesting artist. He’s verified this skill not only in his change through five Arctic Monkeys’ albums but through his extremely successful side projects. His collaboration with Miles Kane on The Last Shadow Puppets album in 2008 and the six song soundtrack to Richard Ayoade’s 2010 film Submarine are prime examples of his genius lyricism and flexibility as an artist. “I’m not the kind of fool that’s gonna sit and sing to you about stars girl/ but last night I looked up into the dark half of the blue and they’d gone backwards.”
Some may call it arrogance, others may call it self confidence but whichever way you look at it, a rock star has to have some kind of out going attitude and belief in themselves and their music. When briefly being confronted on an alleged “booting” of his face by Luke Pritchard of The Kooks he simply denied it and said, “they’d know about it if I had.” His acceptance speech for album of the year at the Brit Awards in 2014 showed he was there to make himself heard and although a slightly pissed up narration of the history of rock and roll, not many have said it better.
Alex Turner pretty much ticks all the boxes in the unspoken list of requirements for a rock star at only twenty-nine years old. There’s so much more expected of him and his music career as it continues. All that’s left is to sit back and see what he’s got in store for us next. “And yeah… invoice me for the microphone if you need to (drops mic and exits stage).”
Words by Jane Taylor