Photo by Zackery Michael

Arctic Monkeys are coming off the biggest moment of their careers. In 2012, the band was part of the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics, alongside acts like George Michael, Fatboy Slim and Emeli Sande, a who’s who of British music through the ages. The band played a cover of the hit Beatles song, “Yesterday,” as Sir Paul McCartney watched from backstage.

“It was the craziest moment we’ve ever had. It’s like playing on the lunar surface. So you’re on the moon already and you’ve got to go into a Beatles song and Paul McCartney is sitting behind you waiting to play. It’s some weird, crazy dream,” front man Alex Turner says.

For some, that would simply be the top of the mountain. How does a band follow up a moment that felt like cloud nine? For Arctic Monkeys, it was just the start of something much bigger to come.

The band is already a household name in the U.K., but stateside they are merely a small venue act known for hit singles like “I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor” and “Fluorescent Adolescent.” Arctic Monkeys have spent over a decade becoming known for their loud rock sounds and excellent live shows. So when the band prepared to enter the studio for their fifth album, AM, they decided it was the perfect time to completely change everything known about them.

Arctic Monkey’s 2011 release, Suck It and See, displayed a more vintage sound. The record was created with the live show in mind with a more relatable set of songs. There were no fancy studio enhancements, just classic rock complete with older equipment and aged guitars to establish a truly retro sound. But that was no longer the goal with AM.

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“For every record, we try to make it like nothing people have heard before. We really pushed it more with this record and stretched what we were capable of,” says drummer Max Helders. The change in sound has certainly been heard on the radio before, but for Arctic Monkeys, it was brand new territory.

James Ford returned to the studio with the band to help produce AM. He had worked with the band on previous albums, and that familiarity was very welcomed as the band had the mindset that “all bets were off” with this new record. Turner refers to the producer as the band’s fifth member. “There is an unspoken understanding with him. We had a telepathic thing going on where we don’t have to sit around discussing things.”

Lifelong R&B fans, the band decided to blend the genre with their already established rock sound, creating what Turner refers to as a “two-way pager melody with cosmic sparks.” Inspired by the sounds of R. Kelly and Dr. Dre, it was Arctic Monkeys’ goal to blend classic aspects of the genre with the likes of Black Sabbath. It was a challenge the four members had been looking to conquer for some time.

The goal throughout the recording process of AM was to become a more studio-centered band rather than a live one. With the genre-blending sound in mind, Arctic Monkeys set out to really test what the new and improved recording equipment had to offer. Helders recalls the goal was to make an album that could be heard pristinely through upgraded car stereos.

So how exactly would the band successfully bring together two totally separate sounds? Turner refers to the process like packing for a trip. “You only have so much room in the suitcase, like you only have so much room in a song. So you take your key pieces like your black dress and pair of heels. We borrowed the important aspects from both areas.”

The band opted to focus on the vocals and the vocal production. They wanted R&B melodies to clash with a deeper rock sound. Turner does not see it, but comparisons are already being made to the band’s touring partners, The Black Keys. While Turner notes that he loves the band, he doesn’t refer to them as an inspiration for the record.

AM’s experiment started with the release of “R U Mine.” Arctic Monkeys put the song out as a seed to see how fans would react to the change. And it immediately started to grow. Turner had more groove in his voice while backed by a thick guitar riff. The teaser was an instant fan favorite and the birth of something much bigger.

The remaining tracks follow suit. Helders agrees that this is certainly the band’s most modern record. Ambitious is the word Turner would use. This was the record they have been waiting to make. “We have always tried to not have a standard rock sound. It is just now that we are the masters of our ideas,” Helders says.

Arctic Monkeys waste no time showing an upgrade in their overall sound. “Do I Wanna Know?” kicks the album off in big fashion. The booming percussions feed into a snarling guitar melody as Turner slows his voice down with seductive wordplay.

The band continues with a “glam rock meets hip hop” theme. “Arabella” features chunky guitar bits while backed by a rhythm section. The mix is flawless, but will not allow Arctic Monkeys to escape the Black Keys comparison. Regardless, the track could be an instant classic, and it hints at the garage rock sound the band became famous for. “I Want It All” is a menacing tune that recalls the group’s early work with fuzzy guitar melodies and muffled vocals.

As Turner continues to work on creating the “two-way pager” melodies he described in the record, his voice became a new kind of instrument. Steering away from his famous guitar work, Turner’s falsetto voice became a prominent feature. The singer notes that, in an effort to become more of a studio band, they experimented with vocal effects to “season the broth” of the sound already created. Turner creeps into the higher registry on the bluesy “One For The Road” and “No. 1 Party Anthem,” further adding to the R&B element.

AM lyrically follows a theme of love and lust. Turner felt it was important to keep the same lyrical foundation the band has always been known for while allowing the instruments to flourish around it. The singer croons about a mistress on “No. 1 Party Anthem,” describing the song as a one-night stand at midnight.

“I wanna be your vacuum cleaner, breathing in your dust. I wanna be your Ford Cortina. I won’t ever rust,” sings Turner on the woozy “I Wanna Be Yours.”

The song represents another big moment for Arctic Monkeys, a drum machine. But while the band is changing up their sound, fans should not expect for Arctic Monkeys to become the next electro-pop sensation. The boys wanted to eliminate the instrumental restrictions they had placed on themselves during previous albums, but they draw the line at a certain point. As Helders casually put it, “Synthesizers are for bands who have run out of ideas.” The song is easily the most experimental moment on the record and shows the future of Arctic Monkeys’ musicality is relatively limitless.

The band is well aware that AM is their most ground-breaking record yet. They are also aware that this is the future of the band; there is no going back to their old ways. Arctic Monkeys successfully created a rock album without a standard rock sound and have plans to continue expanding the genre further.

“This is the most original record that we’ve ever done. There is a real excitement about it, a real thrill about it. The people and fans have reacted well to the change. It feels like we are really getting somewhere as a band. We have raised the bar as a live band, and this is an attempt to raise the bar as studio artists,” Turner says.

Raising the bar is exactly what Arctic Monkeys accomplished. After the challenge of changing their path was complete, another hurdle awaited: Video. Helders admits that the band felt pressure to present the songs in a big way. While not on board with the whole social media craze, Helders understands that a visually impressive music video is virtually essential for the success of a song.

Nabil Elderkin was hired to direct the band’s first video for “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High.” Famous for his work with Kanye West, Bon Iver and Frank Ocean, Nabil was tasked with presenting Arctic Monkeys’ new sound with a big bang. Because Turner was aware of the director’s talent, he opted to let Nabil work his magic instead of interfering with his ideas.

“We’ve never done a video like that before, but we also have never made a song like that before. It felt right,” Turner explains. “The videos he did for James Blake and Kanye were exactly what we wanted. I just tried not to get in the way.”

The end result is Turner out on the town after receiving a text message from a girl. The viewer is taken on a series of hallucinations and visions that are as trippy as the song itself. Turner credits old hip-hop videos as the inspiration for the theme of the music video. The response has been positive, and the video has racked up over five million hits on YouTube.

AM will open Arctic Monkeys to a much broader fan base. The band has been building their career brick by brick with their ambitions growing as each gig was booked. Becoming a worldwide band was never the idea, but the members of the band are hopeful that the new album allows people to see them in a different way.

The future of Arctic Monkeys rests in the recording studio. The band intends on staying focused on where they can take things from a recording standpoint. Helders is hoping to push the R&B influence in future albums and possibly slow the band’s sound down even further.

“We have a lot of ideas that we have yet to truly explore, but we have a foundation now,” Helders says. “We have an established new identity. We want to keep enhancing it. Like a car, the more modern the stereo, the more modern the music needs to be.”

Arctic Monkeys will take a break from conquering the studio in order to head out on a lengthy tour. The foursome will be headlining a slew of shows in the U.S. after hitting up most of the major summer festivals overseas. In addition to making stops in all major cities, they will also be taking part in Austin City Limits in October.

Currently consumed with rehearsal for the tour, the band has learned that the only downfall of creating a studio album is learning how to play it live without sacrificing any of the added enhancements. Turner describes the recording studio and the stage as two very different balances. “After being in that little room for so long, it will be nice to get into a bigger space. We were starting to go a bit crazy while recording.”

According to Turner, there are still plenty of stones left unturned for the band. Ambitions are even higher after creating AM. Along with exploring the ranges of the recording studio even more, Turner wants to sell out Madison Square Garden. The first stop was the Olympics, while the next stop appears to be New York. Arctic Monkeys may have already had what is being considered the biggest moment of their career, but the band is far from peaking.