Listen to Alex Turner’s isolated vocals for Arctic Monkeys song ‘Body Paint’
In 2022, the long-awaited seventh Arctic Monkeys album, The Car, finally arrived, and once again, the band admirably ventured into new pastures in the studio, much to the dissatisfaction of early-album purists. The Car carries loose themes throughout as the Sheffield group looks to have touched back down on Earth following their lunar excursion in 2018’s Tranquillity Base Hotel and Casino.
In a glowing 4.5-star review, Far Out’s Tom Taylor wrote: “You’re swaying in the sun, and it’s a perfect escape from reality, just in time for the shimmering last night finale that has you dreaming of the drama of romance like few albums you can remember. Just as Turner closes the show and croons in such style that marble statues hang their heads, ‘Sometimes, I wrap my head around it all, and it makes perfect sense,’ The Car is a journey you’ll wanna take again.”
One of the album’s undoubted highlights was the second single, ‘Body Paint’. The track arrived at the end of September following ‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’ and had fans tingling with anticipation ahead of the big drop date.
In a continuation of Arctic Monkeys’ move toward cinematic soundscapes, ‘Body Paint’ is an intense slow-burner with orchestral string sections that perfectly complement Turner’s distinctive croon towards its emphatic climaxes. In his lyrics, Alex Turner paints imagery suggestive of an intriguing romantic encounter: “So predictable, I know what you’re thinking/ Still a trace of body paint around your legs, your arms, and your face.”
The sexy, laid-back chorus harmonises with a baroque-pop 1970s throwback instrumental sound throughout. As Turner told The Guardian that fans might have expected something more grandiose over the chorus section, however. “Not exactly what you’d imagine singing over the loud bit,” he said. “But it’s as much about the musical ideas as the lyrics.”
Below, you can hear Alex Turner’s brilliant isolated vocals from ‘Body Paint’.
