Revisit Alex Turner’s beautiful cover of ‘Strange’ by Patsy Cline
Alex Turner formed Arctic Monkeys during secondary school alongside drummer Matt Helders and bassist Andy Nicholson in 2002. Shortly after, they recruited Jamie Cook as a second guitarist and began gigging around Sheffield before recording a demo tape entitled Beneath the Boardwalk.
It wasn’t long before Arctic Monkeys were signed to Domino in 2005, which led to the release of their debut single ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’, which shot straight to number one in the UK. The band followed this up with ‘When the Sun Goes Down’, which also hit the top spot upon release.
By the beginning of 2006, the band had a debut album under their belt in the shape of Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. The album became the fast-selling debut in UK history, selling 118,501 copies on the first day of its release alone, which was more than the rest of the UK Album Chart’s top 20 combined.
Nicholson departed from the band after their debut, unable to cope with extensive touring and the sudden fame he was subjected to. He was replaced by Nick O’ Malley, who has remained the band’s bassist ever since. The past 15 years have seen the band release five more studio albums, including 2013’s AM, which became one of the UK’s top-selling vinyl records of the decade.
Arctic Monkeys are set to release their seventh album, The Car, on October 21st, which Helders has claimed: “Picks up where [Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino] left off musically.”
However, whilst the band have released plenty of their own music, to the point that they were accused of “money-grabbing” for releasing an EP three months after their debut album, the band have also recorded a hefty amount of covers in their time.
To pay homage to the bands that have shaped their sound, Arctic Monkeys have covered the likes of The Strokes, The Beatles, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Lou Reed. They also have their fair share of unusual covers in the form of ‘Love Machine’ by Girls Aloud and ‘Hold on We’re Going Home’ by Drake.
However, Turner’s music outside of Arctic Monkeys – both The Last Shadow Puppets (his project with Miles Kane) and his solo work for Richard Ayoade’s film Submarine – most potently show the influence of ’60s pop ballads over the musician. Therefore, it only makes sense for Turner to cover an artist from this period, and in 2012 he chose Patsy Cline’s ‘Strange’ for a triple j ‘Like a Version’ session.
Cline’s original version was featured on her 1962 album Sentimentally Yours. The track sees Cline melancholically reflect on a relationship that has broken down due to the arrival of another woman.
Turner strips back the song and plays it with just an acoustic guitar, allowing his voice to dominate in a powerful yet soothing tone. The song highlights Turner’s vocal talents and remains one of his greatest and most underrated covers.
Listen to the full cover below.
