With inspired matching haircuts and suits, Miles Kane and Alex Turner (The Last Shadow Puppets) have celebrated both their friendship and discovery into dusty sophisticated records from the ’60s that used cinematic elements from Serge Gainsbourg to Scott Walker and the western sounds of Italian master Ennio Morricone. Six years later, they no longer look like siblings separated at birth (that’s reserved for Lucius) but have still managed to mimic each other’s careers to an extent; both are two records further in their careers and have moved to Los Angeles with their partners. However, Everything You’ve Come To Expect is less about copying their idols and more about imprinting a unique style of baroque accompaniment, following in the footsteps of the ambitious Clean Bandit. The new approach still consists of short songs and uses the string skills of arranger Owen Pallett (as well as Arctic Monkeys producer James Ford and new drummer Zach Dawes from Mini Mansions), but as part of an equally measured set-up rather than the demanding crescendos of the first record. It’s less era-defined; for example, on ‘The Element of Surprise’ and ‘Patterns’, we have an environment that’s part-disco, part-blues rock, and part-ABC.
The subject of being buried (romantically) in the sand by women still fill up the thought process of The Last Shadow Puppets; firstly through both sleeves’ late ’60s photography. On the debut, Kane and Turner are prey for the opposite gender’s charms, trapped in a strategic femme fatale web and appropriate for the stylish music within. However, on EYCTE, their approach to love and life is handled in a different way. They at least try to confront the situation on the back of a regretful yet condescending epiphany: “Should have known little girl that you’d do me wrong.” ‘Dracula Teeth’ rather humorously compares romance to a Nosferatu-type horror film. Then there’s the title track, which contains a world-record usage of metaphorical references (not too surprising knowing Turner’s wordplay) to handle seduction. Perhaps this symbolises their current MP3 shuffle from Coolio‘s ‘Gangsta Paradise’ to Joy Division‘s ‘Shadowplay’ to David Bowie‘s ‘Diamond Dogs’.
The pop culture continues rather transparently on The Bourne Identity, challenging the perception that Yorkshireman Alex Turner has forgotten his old Sheffield humbleness when living at beaches such as Malibu (where the album was recorded). Yet Turner doesn’t need to be told what’s important to him and fans get a sneak at his psyche on ‘The Dream Synopsis‘ and ‘Sweet Dreams TN‘ – both embrace his relationship with model Taylor Bagley but luckily for Kane, he’s name-checked in the utopian postcard on the former. With those two tracks written exclusively by Alex Turner, and with Miles Kane allowed his own personal track in ‘Aviation’, EYCTE shows that even though they share a city and the hard-luck nature of love, there is room for freedom and personal perspectives in their musical friendship.
