Arctic Monkeys have released their latest album ‘Live At The Royal Albert Hall,’ with plenty of deluxe and bundle options available at their online store here with the stipulation that all proceeds from the album ‘will go to war child UK,’ which is ‘a specialist charity for children affected by conflict.’ The album is available in digital form with 20 tracks and an accompanying booklet, black or clear vinyl, CD or as a bundle with extra items like a poster or a photobook.
The album is a recording made of the band performing live at the Royal Albert Hall in London and features a setlist which spans the several invocations of the band which have been seen so far. Fan favourites from the band’s smash hit first two albums include ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor,’ ‘From The Ritz To The Rubble,’ alongside newer its such as ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ and ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’
The Arctic Monkey’s have come a long way since breaking through with a self recorded first album back in the noughties. Having seen the band go through so many transformations already in their still relatively short career and lives so far, it isn’t pleasant to see the band looking back at their older material and deciding to bring it back to life with the medium of live performance. Since it has been so long since the band first outed the high energy songs on their first album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not,’ it is in fact quite an impressive feat that they are still able to play them to such a high standard, since their style as become noticeably more relaxing and laid back as time has passed.
This live album comes two years after the band’s most recent studio album ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino,’ which is so far detached from their original sound, with tracks like ‘Star Treatment,’ sounding more like the mature songwriting of later David Bowie than the pugnacious punk snarl of ‘I Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor.’ However, the uniqueness and change in style which is present on the latest studio album is refreshing, while previous albums like ‘Humbug,’ and later ‘AM,’ saw the Monkeys adopt new images and persona’s each time, it is not until ‘Tranquility…’ that the real transformation is made in the sound, not just the band’s image.
The Albert Hall gig was recorded in 2018, On June 7, and all proceeds from the concert where donated to War Child UK ‘in support of the vital work they do protecting, educating and rehabilitating children who have experienced the trauma of conflict and the horror of war.’ The release of the concert as an album is a continuation of this fundraising for War Child UK as the band themselves say ‘The situation that was bad in 2018 is now desperate and those children and their families need our help more than ever.’
