Alex Turner on the influence of Frank Sinatra on his vocals
Alex Turner has transitioned from indie’s freshest fast-talking scallywag to a crooning rock ‘n’ roll/lounge hybrid. Arctic Monkeys’ latest performance at Glastonbury Festival certainly proved emblematic of the way he has mellowed towards something akin to a pitch-perfect Serge Gainsbourg, and his days of rattling of scathing verse with verbose excitement are a thing of the past.
The fact that you can now draw comparisons to Frank Sinatra for the frontman illuminates the band’s mind-boggling transition. Nobody could ever have expected that the band who blasted off ‘Brianstorm’ at 1000mph would ever sway towards modern-day mellowed jazz. This showcases the supreme artistry behind the group, which is also evidenced by the vast array of influences that Turner absorbs.
As it happens, Sinatra has always been a part of his make-up. “There’d be a lot of Sinatra,” he told Entertainment regarding the music he first remembered his parents playing. “My dad was a science teacher when I was born, but around that time, he stopped teaching physics and started teaching music instead.”
The Arctic Monkeys frontman continues: “He played in swing bands and stuff, so that was his thing. And the song I remember asking him to play when I was really little was Sinatra doing this song about how ‘there’s an awful lot of coffee in Brazil.'”
‘The Coffee Song’ was a track first recorded in 1946, and despite the vast style and generational difference, you can certainly pick up on tropes that Turner has worked into his songwriting and performing, one of which is his use of puns. A satire of Brazil’s coffee surplus, this old classic is essentially a novelty song, and Turner’s songwriting has, likewise, always had a comic edge.
And then there’s the syncopation that Turner is now delving into more and more. This is Sinatra’s vocals sway to their own melody, often coming in just half a beat before or after you expect in order to add a punchiness to his soft delivery. As Turner explains himself: “What always impresses me is the way Sinatra delivers the vocal, the timing of it all.”
It is a subtle thing, but Turner says it is always these minor quirks that inspire him. “I’m drawn to straightforward things,” he told The Los Angeles Times. “For some reason, I’m thinking about this Sinatra at the Sands record that I love. There’s this song, ‘Don’t Worry’ Bout Me’ — that’s one where you can guess what it’s about from the title. But there’s stuff going on in the band and in the music that’s intricate. He does this bit that always gets me — a sound comes out of his mouth, but it’s not any of the notes. He just kind of swoops up: [Sings] ‘Look out for yourself’.”
