Having read so much of the music press' response to 'The Age of The Understatement', you'd swear that Arctic Monkey Alex Turner was the first songwriter ever to draw influence from the great Scott Walker. Clearly this isn't the case. He's not even the first Sheffield songwriter to be turned-on by big Scott, with Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley having previously proclaimed their debt to the man's talents in the excellent Walker documentary '30th Century Man'.
What's interesting about Turner's consumption of Walker's orchestral style though is that it comes as such a leap, not for the 22-year-old, but for his beer-swilling fan base.
A sensitive songwriter who has found himself in a band which could - in terms of fan base - be placed in an ark alongside The Stone Roses, Oasis and Stereophonics, means Turner has displayed a degree of bravery in making a record that often veers on camp. On tracks such as 'Black Plant', the hand of Shirley Bassey is as much in evidence as that of Walker.
Written and recorded in France with Miles Kane of Wirral trio The Rascals, 'The Age of The Understatement' is a pastiche record, drawing influence from a host of artists. Though Walker is all over it, Love can be heard on 'Standing Next To Me'; Bowie crops up half a dozen times, while more modern artists such as The Coral ('Separate And Ever Deadly') and David Arnold ('In My Room') are also flowing through the 12 tracks.
Yet despite the obvious influences and almost wholesale lifts from the past, 'The Age of Understatement' still manages to sound fresh and exuberant. It's hard to judge how new this territory is for Kane - given that his nine-to-five outfit The Rascals have yet to release their debut - but For Turner, this is a big departure.
With that in mind, the record is best described as the sound of two young men who have just discovered a hidden box of unbelievably great records and want to scream in your face about how much they love them, and how much you've got to hear them.
'The Age of Understatement' is that sound, the sound of two kindred spirits making music they love, not for the sake of fame or fortune, but purely because they are in love and enthused with the joy of making this genre of music. It makes for a record which is impossible not to love.
And regardless of a desire to proclaim that you're heard it all before, you'll be hard pushed to declare that you've heard it better. Though all 12 tracks are not bona-fide classics, there's by no means any filler here. Of the stand-outs, the swirling 'Clam Like You' is an immediate favourite, complete with typically engaging observational lyrics from Turner that work so well inside the orchestral arrangements of former Arcade Fire member Owen Pallett.
On the back of 'The Age of Understatement', we feverishly await Kane's debut as a songwriter in his own right with The Rascals.
With Turner, this is all old hat at 22. Three superb albums in three years. You can't help but picture him sitting back in an arm chair in Sheffield thinking: "This music lark, eh? Piece of piss."
Steve Cummins
