#melody Helder

[pkmacabre-shadow]

Captain N: New Adventures

Chapter 4

Monsteropolis: A hi-tech city that is the home of robots, Dr. Light, and Dr. Wily. Currently, it is in disarray due to Wily causing a ruckus again with his robots. It’s almost as if he never learned his lesson.

The N Team made it to the city, looking at the chaos occurring with robots running a muck. While flying, each of the players tested the joycons with some transforming into a weapon. Megaman had told them that the shoulder buttons provide them with a shield.

“Jeez, this city has seen better days,” commented Melody. “We have to get the citizens to safety,” said Megaman, “we’re gonna land on a clear space, so we’re gonna have to split up.” “Right! I’ll go with you Rock,” replied Pit. “Before I go, here’s a pair of goggles for you Melody, it could help you out in battle. The angel handed the googles to the girl, then he and the blue bomber left to save the citizens. Melody decided to put them on as she looked on. Kirby decided to join the two, leaving the group alone.

“Huh, would’ve been more helpful if they taught us how we use them instead of just the basic button combinations,” said Chester, “I could see why Megaman dipped. Pit maybe, considering the state of this city. Not sure about Kirby aside the fact that he’s a literal pink demon.” All of a sudden there was a zip. “Did you guys hear that?” asked Wren. Another zip passed by, Chester answered Wren’s question: “Yeah.”

“Hold on, I think I know who the guy is,” said Melody. “You don’t mean-,” Chester was saying what his friend might mean before he was cut off. “That’s right, it is I, Quickman!”

The gang looked at the source of the voice. There he is, the red, yellow, and black speedster. “I haven’t seen you anywhere. You guys newbies or something?” questioned Quickman. “Shut up, we’re here to find Wily,” exclaimed Melody.

Quickman chuckled. “Seems like you’re dropped off by the blue dork and that flightless bird,” he replied, “I had fun, let’s dance kids.”

Quickman attacked at full speed while the others tried to do something: Chester and Wren tried to fight but got hit by him, and Melody tried to intervene but got hit as well, making it futile. “Is that all you got,” Quickman laughed.

Chester grabbed the joycon off his belt and it turned into a sword. He ran after him trying to get a hit on him, but Quickman dodged. This repeated on until Quick kicked him in the stomach, knocking him over. Seeing what he did, Melody did the same but the joycon turned into a gun. She aimed at Quickman getting a successful hit. Quickman turned to see who shot him.

Wren went over to pull Chester up. “Are you alright?” she asked. “Yeah, I’m fine,” groaned Chester. They looked over to the fight in front of them. Melody ran while shooting Quickman.

As she ran far from the speedster, she stood her ground and charged her weapon. She then released the energy as Quickman ran straight to the blast. He was shot and fell down.

[blair-s-world]

So, I asked Snapchat ai some important questions last night.

Don’t ask why..

[tranquilityalex]

Me when I listened to the vocals Alex does in Sculptures of anything goes and jet skis on the moat

[danbenzvi]

On The Jukebox: Albert Hammond Jr. - “Melodies On Hiatus”

Featuring guest appearances from GoldLink (on “100-99″), Matt Helders (on “Thoughtful Distress”), Steve Stevens (on “Thoughtful Distress”) and Rainsford aka Rainey Qualley (on “Remember” and “Alright Tomorrow).

[bellaturner]

New Song

I am truly sorry for this, Anon.

Contains smut

Summary: Y/N and Alex end up develop feeling for each other and decide to take things a step further.

Warnings: loss of virginity, orgasm denial (if you squint hard enough), oral sex (fem receiving).

2,7k words

Masterlist

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Alex has never been part of the "cool kids" group. You've known him since both of you were four years old, and he's always stuck with his little group of friends, which includes Matthew Helders and a couple of other boys. While you and Alex had a certain level of friendship, it wasn't strong enough to be categorized as true friendship.

However, last year, Alex and Matt decided to form a band and started rehearsing in school after hours. You have to admit that you started creating random excuses just to watch them play. Sometimes, it would just be the three of you in the music room, and you would sit there and let their melodies resonate through your body.

At the beginning, the band wasn't great. In fact, you were convinced that the noises they made couldn't be called music. Matt couldn't sync with Alex's guitar, and they would blame each other for the terrible sounds. But they got better over time. Alex's voice became softer and always in tune, and even though he would occasionally mess up some chords on the electric guitar, the overall result was enough to send shivers down your spine. Matt, on the other hand, was definitely not a singer, but he developed such an incredible expertise on the drums that you could swear that his drumsticks were an extension of his hands.

With time, they started to gain popularity at school, and other kids would come and watch their rehearsals. That bothered you because you were the only one who believed in them when their music was terrible. But it was mostly because you had developed feelings for Alex. If asked, you would deny it to death, but you had lost count of all those sleepless nights spent thinking about his lips on yours and his hands all over your body.

The three of you ended up becoming good friends by the time summer vacations came around. Most of your afternoons were spent watching them play and going out for ice cream afterwards. One day, during those pleasant outings, Alex approached you with a nervous look on his face. "I wrote a new song," he said, "and I want you to hear it first." You couldn't believe it. Out of all the people who were now flocking to their rehearsals, he chose you to be the first to hear their new song.

Your heart skipped a beat as Alex pulled out his phone and played the new song for you. As you listened to the lyrics and the melody, you were filled with emotions that you couldn't even describe. The song was beautiful and had a depth that you had never heard in their music before. It's like it was tailor made to you.

As the song ended, you turned to Alex with tears in your eyes. "That was amazing," you said, "I can't believe you wrote that." Alex smiled nervously, "I'm glad you liked it," he replied.

In that moment, you realized how much you truly cared for him. You had always admired his talent and passion for music, but now you saw him in a completely different light. You felt a connection to him that you had never felt before, and you knew that you wanted to be more than just friends.

But you also knew that confessing your feelings to him could ruin your friendship. So, you kept your feelings hidden and continued to support him and Matt as their band gained more popularity. However, every time you heard Alex sing, your heart ached with the unspoken longing for something more.

Your nights were now a strange mixture of made-up scenarios where you and Alex took things to the next level, and wonderful dreams of him, most of which were too dirty to describe. You were young, not a saint, and it would be a lie to say that you had never imagined how it would feel to have his cock inside you.

As the summer went on, the band began to receive invitations to play at various gigs, including a house party hosted by one of your colleagues. Alex and Matt were excited to showcase their hard work, but with one condition: you had to be invited to the party as well.

Of course you were excited to see them playing. But the real reason that made your heart beat so fast on your chest that night was the fact that you had finally decided to confess your feelings for Alex. You chose your best dress, the one that lest just enough for imagination, and decide to put on some fuck me heels, as a change for your everyday sneakers. Your hair and makeup were impeccable, you made sure of that.

As you entered the party, you spotted Alex and Matt in the corner of the room, setting up their instruments. Alex looked up and saw you, his eyes widening in surprise at your appearance. You could tell that he was taken aback by how stunning you looked.

The night went on, and the band started to play and the crowd began to gather around them. You couldn't take your eyes off Alex as he sang and played his guitar, imagining his fingers playing something else rather that those guitar strings. It was like he was singing directly to you, his eyes meeting yours every so often. You could feel the tension building between the two of you, the unspoken feelings that had been brewing inside you for so long.

The music was blaring, and the noise of the party was getting louder by the minute. After a few songs, the boys came down from the improvised stage, and you all headed over to the drinks table for some much-needed refreshments. The thrill of drinking alcohol when you weren't supposed to only added to the excitement of the night. You loved the rush of breaking the rules, and the feeling of being wild and carefree.

As Matt excused himself to use the restroom, you saw your chance. Downing a glass of liquid courage, you looked at Alex's gorgeous face and tried to shout over the deafening music.

"Alex," you said, "can we go somewhere quieter to talk?"

Your heart was racing as he looked at you with a curious expression. He nodded his head, and the two of you headed to the backyard. The sound of the music was much quieter now, and you could finally hear yourself think. You took a deep breath and turned to face him.

"Alex, I have to tell you something," you said, your voice barely above a whisper.

"What is it?" he asked, looking at you intently.

"I have feelings for you. I've had them for a while now, and I just couldn't bring myself to tell you." you blurted it out all at once, knowing that if you didn't, you'd ended up making something up to cover it.

Alex's eyes widened in surprise, and you thought you saw a flicker of something in them. Hope, maybe?

"I'm glad you told me," he said softly, "I like you too, Y/N. I've always felt a connection between us, but I didn't want to risk losing our friendship by saying anything."

You felt your heart flutter at his words. "Do you know that song I showed you at the ice cream shop? I wrote it for you" he admitted, while passing his hands through his beautiful, soft and slightly curled hair.

"You know what we do now?" Alex said, his voice low and seductive, sending shivers down your spine. You shook your head, in complete shock with his confession. As he stepped closer to you, your heart raced faster. "We take a chance," he continued, his eyes burning into yours with intensity. And before you could even respond, his lips were on yours, sending an electric shock through your entire body.

The kiss was everything you had ever imagined it would be, and more. You felt the heat rising between you, the desire to explore each other intensifying with every passing second. His hand found its way to your waist, pulling you closer to him as he deepened the kiss. And when his other hand moved to your hair, you couldn't help but let out a small moan of pleasure. Your senses were overwhelmed, as you tasted the beer on his breath and felt the warmth of his body against yours. His touch was electric, and you couldn't get enough. You wrapped your arms around his neck, losing yourself in the moment and letting him take control.

The kiss between you and Alex was electric, the heat between your bodies building with every passing second. When you tried to speak, Alex stopped you with a gentle finger to your lips. "Shh, don't speak, doll," he whispered, taking your hand and leading you back to the party. The anticipation that built inside you as you followed him was almost too much to bear.

Suddenly, Matt's voice cut through the music, calling out for the two of you. But Alex dismissed him with a curt response and a tight grip on your hand, leaving your friend confused, but neither of you cared about it at that moment. You followed him upstairs, heart pounding, as he tried a few doors until he found one that was unlocked. He pulled you inside, shutting the door behind him.

Alex's hands explored your body, igniting a fire within you that you had never felt before. As he traced the curves of your hips and slipped his fingers underneath your clothes, you couldn't help but moan softly. He pressed his lips to your neck, sending shivers down your spine and making your knees go weak. You could feel his erection growing against your core, making you desire him even more.

As he pulled away, you looked up at him with a longing that was almost palpable. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, his voice dripping with desire. You nodded, unable to speak as he reached for the zipper of your dress. He slowly slid it down, revealing more and more of your skin until you were standing before him in just your underwear and high heels.

Just as you were about to speak, Alex took one of your nipples into his mouth, causing you to let out a loud moan. "Oh god," you gasped.

"What is it, Y/N?" he asked, locking eyes with you.

"I've never done this before," you admitted, your cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Alex leaned in close to your ear and whispered, "Me neither." He nipped at your earlobe before taking your hand and leading you towards the bed. "Come here," he said, a hint of playfulness in his voice.

He pushed you gently onto the bed, climbing on top of you as he leaned down to capture your lips in a passionate kiss. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer as the intensity of the kiss grew. His hands trailed down your body, slipping under your panties and teasing your clit with his skilled fingers. You've touched yourself before, but it wasn't nearly as good as having Alex's fingers playing with your swollen clit.

You let out a moan as pleasure shot through you, and he continued to work his magic on you, bringing you to the brink of orgasm before slowing down.

"I want to savor this," he whispered in your ear, making you shiver with anticipation.

He moved down your body, kissing and licking his way to your breasts, taking each nipple in turn and swirling his tongue around it until you were writhing with pleasure.

He continued his descent, his tongue flicking over your stomach and down to your throbbing core. He parted your legs and shoved his tongue inside you, causing you to cry out in ecstasy. You ran your fingers through his hair, urging him on as he continued to lick and suck, his movements becoming faster and more intense.

"Nope," he said as he withdrew his mouth, leaving your swollen clit aching for friction, your need for an orgasm growing stronger with each passing second.

But then, he surprised you by standing up and removing his pants, revealing his hard and throbbing cock. He looked at you, checking for any signs of hesitation before slowly approaching the bed again.

"I'm not doing this if you're not ready, Y/N," he said, his eyes locking onto yours.

Your voice was filled with passion and desire as you responded, "I'm ready, Al, I promise."

He positioned himself at your entrance, his eyes locked onto yours as he slowly entered you. The sensation was overwhelming, a mix of pain and pleasure as you felt him fill you completely. It was your first time and the experience was unlike anything you had ever felt before.

You were both nervous and excited, unsure of what to expect but eager to explore each other's bodies. He waited until you were adjusted to his size before he began moving in a slow and steady rhythm, each thrust sending waves of pleasure throughout your body.

With a slow and steady rhythm, Alex began moving, each thrust sending waves of pleasure throughout your body. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer as he continued to slide in and out of you.

Your moans filled the room as he picked up the pace, his thrusts becoming harder and faster. You matched his pace, meeting him with each thrust as the pleasure grew more intense. The sounds of skin slapping against skin filled the air as you both moved together in perfect harmony, lost in the ecstasy of the moment.

You could feel the tension building within you, a familiar heat spreading throughout your body, your core begging for release. Alex seemed to sense it too, his thrusts becoming more erratic as he chased his own release.

Finally, with a loud moan, you came undone, your body shaking with the force of your orgasm. Alex continued to thrust into you, his own release not far behind, the tightness of your walls were enough to push him over the edge. With a guttural groan, he emptied himself inside you, feeling like he had just experienced something he had never felt before.

After a few moments of catching their breaths, Alex rolled over and pulled Y/N with him so that she was nestled against his chest. They lay there in silence for a few moments before Alex spoke up. "That was amazing," he said softly, running his fingers through Y/N's hair. "Yeah," you replied, snuggling closer to him. "I've never felt anything like that before." Alex chuckled.

"I could tell," he said. "You were so tight."

"Sorry," you said blushing. "I know it was probably painful at first."

Alex shook his head. "It's okay," he said. "I wanted to make sure you were comfortable the whole time. And it was worth it, seeing you come like that."

You felt a smile on your face and a warm glow filled your chest.

"What now?" You whispered, looking up at Alex. He shrugged, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips.

"We could stay here like this for a while," he suggested. "Or we could get dressed and go back to the party. Whatever you want."

You considered your options, torn between wanting to stay in the moment and the reality that the outside world was waiting.

"I don't want to leave just yet," you admitted, snuggling closer to Alex. "But we can't stay here forever."

"I know," he said, holding you tight. "We'll have plenty of time together."

As you relaxed into his embrace, you both heard a knock on the door, followed by Matt's voice calling out for Alex.

"Al! They want us to play a couple more songs," Matt said.

You both groaned in unison, not wanting to break the spell of your intimate moment.

"Go away, Matt!" Alex called back, his voice firm.

You both laughed and settled back into each other's arms, content to stay in your own little world for just a little while longer.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

I'm only posting this because I promised Anon I would. Not sure it came out the way I wanted it to. In the middle of it I realized I don't have a clue about how to portray Al being a virgin. On my mind his just this sex God, so yeah. Sorry for this.

Hope you enjoy it, tho? If you did please leave a kind comment, those make me forget how much I suffer while I write :)

Anyway, thankss 💕

~ Bella

[theageoftheunderstatement]

Spin: Arctic Monkeys Hit A New Gear

Written By Steve Appleford, 18/10/2022

It’s a warm, cloudless night in Los Angeles when the Arctic Monkeys step onto a festival stage at the far edge of Chinatown. They’re confident English dudes in windbreakers and leather jackets, picking up their instruments and arriving to the sound of Stan Kenton’s 1970 instrumental recording of the standard “Here Comes That Rainy Day,” a song both muted and deeply emotional, wounded and effervescent.

The sound is a clue to the state of a rock band caught at another moment of evolution, equally connected to their past, present and future, still rockers at their core after two decades, but aspiring to expand beyond that. The Monkeys are here headlining the final day of Primavera Sound, the international Barcelona-based festival making its U.S. debut in L.A., drawing 50,000 fans into the city.

The Arctic Monkeys have been at this since they were teenage mates bashing out modern guitar rock with emotion and bite, quickly growing into superstars in the UK, and festival headliners in the U.S. and everywhere else. The band’s core band members – singer Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O’Malley – are augmented tonight by three other players. The sound is arch and sophisticated, like a next-generation Roxy Music, noisy and unruffled through clanging guitars, alluring piano melodies and lyrics wide open to interpretation.

The biggest international hits would come later in the set, but early on they share a song from the band’s new album, The Car, a shimmery funk tune called “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am.” The song is ready for the dancefloor or your nearest smoke-filled room, as Turner’s voice goes higher, if not quite falsetto, singing soulfully of a dystopian future (or dystopian present): “Freaky keypad by the retina scan…”

With a disco ball at his feet, Turner doesn’t say much between songs, but never comes off as distant, either leaning into the mic or strumming his guitar. When he does speak, the words are as opaque as his lyrics, ending one song with a teasing: “Yes, you like that? I understand loud and clear. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Two weeks later, Turner is in the mostly deserted bar of a small boutique hotel on Hollywood Blvd., wearing an embroidered Guatemalan shirt over a faded black top. He sits at a table with a nearly empty bottle of sparkling water and a small paper coffee cup, a lick of dark hair dangling stylishly over his forehead.

As a host, Turner is perfectly relaxed and cordial, but chooses his words carefully during our interview, finding the messages he wants to convey slowly. Seeing his words in print since he was barely 20 no doubt brought him to this careful state, but he also looks pleased when you recognize one or another inspirational touchstone (Mick Ronson, Brian Wilson, etc.) in the new songs.

In town to talk up the album, the bar is a convenient meeting place. On the wall behind him is a collection of ancient class photographs, of strapping young men in school, on sports teams, all forgotten memories from the last century. “I hadn’t noticed that. Actually just been too busy making it all about me,” Turner says with a knowing laugh.

The whole band lived in L.A. for a time, but now only drummer Matt Helders remains, and between Monkeys projects is a member in good standing of Joshua Homme’s rotating crew of players and accomplices. (Which meant being recruited in 2015-16 for Iggy Pop’s Post Pop Depression.) While Turner still likes to squeeze in some quality time in the city, he now mostly bounces between London and Paris, usually accompanied by the French singer-songwriter Louise Verneuil.

A few days after Primavera, the band headed out to New York for a quick visit to premiere more songs from The Car on The Tonight Show and at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre. It’s an album The Guardian has already praised as a wide-ranging collection of “Portishead-stark noir, improbably catchy yacht-funk and … poppy bombast.”

Two decades after forming as a band of neighborhood teenagers in Sheffield, England, the Arctic Monkeys have maintained relevance as artists and hitmakers by following their own creative impulses rather than passing trends. They began as excitable rockers with flinty bad attitude and pop instincts, quickly hitting No. 1 in the UK with their anxious second and third singles, “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” and “When the Sun Goes Down.” Compare that with The Car, and the evolution to music of increasing sophistication is startling and undeniable, with Turner growing from sneering punk to multiple layers of feeling.

Historically, you might compare Turner and the Monkeys’ evolution to Bowie’s mid-’70s leap from edgy rocker Ziggy Stardust to the deeply emotional crooner of Station to Station and Heroes, and still always sounding like no one but himself. Helders began to notice a change in the vocals when Turner started working with his other project the Last Shadow Puppets, which then carried over into the Monkeys. “It was less shouty and fast and more like Walker Brothers singing. He’s leaned into that a lot more vocally. I’m like, ‘Oh wow. You’re actually a singer now,” Helders says later on the phone, laughing.

In 2022, as much as the sound has changed over time, Turner insists the core quartet is still “following our instincts, which is precisely what we were doing in the summer of 2002.” They were kids then, and songs were composed in that early stage around their abilities in the rehearsal space, designed to be played live in a small club. They now record music with no concerns about recreating the same sounds onstage, allowing their creative impulses to drive the recordings.

He’d grown up surrounded by music, his father, David Turner, a big band musician and educator who actually sat in with the Last Shadow Puppets during a 2016 set in Berlin, blowing sax on “The Dream Synopsis.” That early influence not only reached young Alex, but the friends who came over to the house, including future members of the Arctic Monkeys.

Long before he was a musician himself, Helders heard a lot of mysterious sounds from the distant past at the Turner home that most neighborhood kids were not, learning of an earlier generation’s iconic figures that definitely weren’t being written about in NME.

“When I went around to his house – which was often – big band and jazz and swing was on,” says Helders. “It has always been a powerful thing for Alex. And me too. When I first saw Buddy Rich playing drums on TV, it was before I played drums. I didn’t really understand what was happening. I was like, ‘Whoa, this is blowing my mind!’

“There’s just so much feeling when you listen to music like that,” he adds, noting their current use of Stan Kenton as intro music. “Musically it’s like a masterclass. We’re not quite there yet, but maybe it is enough to know what skill level we’d like to be at.”

The musical lessons kept coming, even as the Monkeys grew into a leading force in a new wave of British rock and pop music, with their every move documented and scrutinized.

The band experienced a career-altering revelation while working with Homme as co-producer on 2009’s Humbug, which in hindsight looms even larger in their story. Rolling out into the high desert to make that album with the Queens of the Stone Age leader opened their eyes to the freedom available to them as artists. Getting weird was something to be embraced, not avoided.

Helders says, “It was Josh who said, ‘Whatever you do in this room, it’s still you. No one can tell you it’s not you. You’re doing it.’ As simple as that sounds, it makes sense. It made us feel like, Oh, we can do whatever we want.”

They’d first met the tall, redheaded rocker backstage at a Belgium rock festival. “We heard him coming down the corridor shouting ‘Monkeys! Monkeys!’” Turner recalls with a smile. Arctic Monkeys had been open in the press about being fans of QOTSA, and now, “He’d come looking for us.”

After that encounter, Domino label co-founder Laurence Bell suggested they reach out to Homme to see if he would be interested in producing. He said yes, and guided the band through seven songs on Humbug. (Four other tracks were produced by longtime collaborator James Ford in New York City.) Looking back, Helders says their first trip with Homme to the Rancho de la Luna recording studio, way out on the edges of Joshua Tree, “felt like I was on another planet.”

“Had we not had that experience at that time, I’d question whether we would still be going now,” Turner says thoughtfully. “At that moment, it felt as if we were put in a bit of a dead end, and creatively it felt like we’d ran out of steam a little bit.”

The Monkeys eventually returned to Joshua Tree (minus Homme) and came back with the monster album of their career to that point, 2013’s AM, which reached platinum in both the UK and U.S. The songs mixed G-funk rhythms with their edgy guitar rock and Turner’s words of romance and ruin. Songs traveled from the crunchy riffs of “Arabella” to the swaggering, woozy funk of “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” Mojo called the album “exciting, audacious work,” and NME declared, “Smart, randy and touched by genius.”

The wildly enthusiastic public reaction that greeted AM didn’t lock the band into a sound, or pressure them to produce sound-alike albums. If anything, it only freed Arctic Monkeys to do as they pleased, to follow their meandering muse wherever it led them.

The band’s last album, 2018’s sci-fi conceptual Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, threw things for a loop. The Car is another step forward, unimaginable in their early days as a stripped-down rock act. Back then, the quartet were on a mission to be as new and original as they could. Helders made a point on the early records to create new beats that were flashy and technically difficult, looking to always “make this new weird thing,” he says.

“That was great for then and it matched what we were doing with the riffs and maybe the aggressiveness of the singing,” he adds. “Now I appreciate restraint and being able to play a groove in a really good way. It’s not any less fun for me, contrary to what it might look like. Even though the drumming is calm and more laid back, it’s as much fun as it is to play more showy.”

The new album’s gently urgent closing track, “Perfect Sense,” came together quickly, with strings mingling with drum beats to create a swirling Brian Wilson flavor. The Beach Boys maestro “has always had a place in my heart,” Turner says. “That’s been in the back of my mind since I was a five-year-old kid.”

The lyrics paint a murky, playful picture: “Having some fun with the warmup act/If that’s what it takes to say goodnight then that’s what it takes. … four figure sum on a hotel notepad … A revelation or your money back.”

“I suppose overall none of it makes a great deal of sense in the traditional sense,” Turner acknowledges happily. “It’s like when you’re trying to leave a party and this is like the fifth attempt. Okay, now I’m really going. That’s what it sounds like to me.”

On the album cover is a photograph shot by Helders in downtown Los Angeles, looking down at a lone car parked on a rooftop lot amid other tall buildings in 2019. The drummer is serious about photography, has published a book of pictures from the Tranquility Base sessions and shown in galleries. For that photograph, he was simply trying out a new lens on his Leica, walking around the city or shooting out his bedroom window, inspired by vivid color work of master photographer William Eggleston.

Helders liked the picture and included it with some others he shared with Turner. “He was like, Oh, wow. He kept coming back to it, like, ‘There’s something about that photo. It tells a story somehow.’” The singer eventually wrote a song inspired by it, and began thinking of the album as The Car, with that image as the cover.

On the title track, as Helders plays brushes on record for the first time, Turner sings his evocative, mysterious, disjointed lyrics: “Your grandfather’s guitar, thinking about how funny I must look trying to adjust to what’s been there all along ... But it ain’t a holiday until you go to fetch something from the car.”

Ahead of the sessions with the band, Turner wrote and recorded preliminary demo versions of the songs, written half on acoustic guitar, half on piano. He sensed where the album was headed when he landed on the instrumental section that begins the opening track “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball.” “That felt right,” he says, “and of course the words have to get on board with that.”

They recorded basic tracks for The Car in an ancient, 700-year-old house called Butley Priory in the English countryside of Suffolk. With arched windows and walls made of stone, the two-story building has recently been refurbished as an elegant venue for weddings and other events. With producer Ford, the Monkeys rented it out and transformed it into a studio.

Says Helders, “We managed to make it feel like a place you wanted to make a record.”

The idea was to somehow replicate scenes Turner had read about, of Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones camping out at a large country home, and parking a mobile recording truck outside. In the ‘70s, a truck had to be packed with recording gear: tape machine, mixing board, speakers, plus engineers and the producer, with cables running into the house.

Loren Humphrey, a frequent Monkeys engineer in recent years, had given Turner a copy of the book The Great British Recording Studios, and the singer became fascinated with its pictures of the famous Stones Mobile Studio unit, with its linoleum floor and history of recording multiple classic rock albums. Modern digital equipment has made the need for a mobile unit mostly obsolete, but the idea of recording at a home in the country stuck in his mind.

“That was kind of the dream idea, but we didn’t quite make it all the way to the linoleum floor in the truck,” he says with a grin. Band and crew instead loaded in their gear and computers and got to work. The band also lived on-site during the recording, and between sessions would gather in front of broadcasts of the 2021 UEFA European Football Championship, where England got to the final.

“That was a pretty exciting time in England then, and we were all watching the games and hanging out,” says Turner. “We hadn’t seen each other for a while and I think that got that kind of the energy of the band back together again.” Helders recalls sessions being structured around soccer viewing. “It really dictated the mood,” the drummer says. “If England had a bad game, it wasn’t going to be a good day in the studio.”

For the band, now looking back at 20 years of history, the sessions were a throwback to the Monkeys’ debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, recorded in 2005 at Chapel Studio in the countryside of South Thoresby. That album might not have happened any other way.

“If we were in a city, we would’ve never finished that record,” Helders says with a laugh. “We needed the discipline of like, ‘Okay, we need to do a song every day. We don’t want any distractions.’ We were just teenagers.”

Sessions for The Car were delayed for a year because of COVID-19 restrictions. It took time for Helders to get back to England from L.A., and he was required to arrive first so he could quarantine ahead of the rest of the band and crew. But Turner used the year to refine his songs, to experiment and explore “a few blind alleys” without concerns about time.

Later, vocals and overdubs were recorded in another house in France, where Turner picked up a 16mm movie camera and captured footage of the band at work, handing it off during his vocals. Some of those grainy color and black-and-white moments turn up in the music video for “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball.”

“I found that having the camera kind of removed me a bit from the situation and hopefully allowed a bit more space for the band to fill,” he says now of his foray into filmmaking. “It gradually transformed itself into a promotional music video, so it all happened pretty naturally.”

In London, strings were recorded at RAK Studios, not to add “sweetness” but evoke complex emotions. That final ingredient is essential to the sound of The Car, contributing to its 10 tracks a consistent personality, a bit like an old Sinatra record as arranged by Nelson Riddle.

“Those arrangements of Sinatra were definitely on when I was in the passenger seat as a kid,” says Turner, whose songwriting usually begins on piano, where he sometimes drifts towards the kind of chord structures his father played at home. “But obviously it’s not swinging quite in the way that stuff is.”

For all the willingness to slow down and use understatement along with noisy guitars, the Monkeys remain at their core a rock band. So Turner embraced the idea of using each piece only as needed, with the strings rising at one moment, then disappearing as the rock instruments roar back. With Tranquility Base, the band looked to create a consistent sound and mood from song to song, and The Car takes that a step further, sounding like a larger work rather than a collection of songs.

“I think we’ve done a better job this time with the dynamics of the whole thing, like allowing each element to have its space and come into focus and disappear when the time is right,” he says. “I felt like there had to be some caution, like the alarms going off: Don’t just go throwing the strings on top of the rock band sort of thing. Let’s try and find a way that it can sort of take turns. There was an idea before the record about splicing two things together from a totally different time and space.”

“Body Paint” captures that balance, starting gently with strings before leading to an explosive guitar piece played by guest Tom Rowley. Turner hadn’t imagined that particular crescendo when laboring over the song alone in a room, before reinterpreting it with the full band. “Having everybody there, it gives you that energy of the band you can’t really replicate,” he says, adding he welcomes the surprises.

There is also an undeniable strain of funk across the songs, which marks a different kind of blast from their past. “It did probably start with opening the drawer and finding the old wah-wah pedal again from 15 years ago,” says Turner. “I’m thinking, ‘Wow, let’s audition that again in this creative juncture.’ When we played it in rehearsal in the first place, it was exciting to sort of blow the dust off the wah-wah pedal.”

That makes The Car a record they could only have made now. The original sound and energy of the Arctic Monkeys wasn’t ready for it. They weren’t self-aware enough to have such aspirations.

“We wouldn’t have been able to do this 10 years ago, or 15 years ago,” confirms Helders. “Everyone sort of learned their instruments at the same time, at the same pace and got better. We’ve got to a place where we can make music like this.

"I think everything happened at the right time.”

[ahjdaily]

Interview: Albert Hammond Jr (Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond)

Albert Hammond Jr. first rose to prominence as the lead guitarist of The Strokes—a band at the forefront of New York City’s indie rock renaissance in the early aughts. In 2007 Albert Hammond Jr. launched his solo career, putting his songwriting and abilities as a frontman to the test. He’s now released five albums, including, Melodies On Hiatus, which came out just a couple months ago. It’s a double album that he co-wrote with Canadian singer Simon Wilcox, and features collaborations with GoldLink and Matt Helders from the Arctic Monkeys.

On today’s episode, Albert Hammond Jr. and Justin Richmond talk about how he was dramatically impacted by his parents’ recent divorce, despite the fact that he’s in his early 40’s. Albert also reminisces about his past life as a champion roller skater who was once scouted by Kristi Yamaguchi’s Olympic ice skating coach. And he explains why he’d never been a fan of Radiohead or Led Zeppelin.

[regioonlineofficial]

West Betuwe heeft een eigen lied. Het is geschreven door twee inwoners en op geheel eigen wijze vertolkt tijdens de finaledag van het West Betuws Lied op 18 juni in Het Klokhuis in Beesd. In opdracht van gemeente West Betuwe werkte Stichting Muzikale Ontplooiing Beesd en Omstreken (SMOBEO) de organisatie van dit culturele evenement tot in de puntjes uit. De winnaars zijn Corrie van Diggelen & Ben van den Bosch uit Tricht. Hun nummer heeft de toepasselijke titel ‘West Betuwe Lied’. Zeven finalisten maakten een compositie van het West Betuws Lied. De één legde de nadruk op de tekst, terwijl de ander meer nadruk legde op de melodie of harmonie. De jury bestond uit jazz-zangeres Denise Jannah, muziekdocente Lieke Lemmens en Wethouder Cultuur Rutger van Stappershoef. Zij hadden een lastige taak. De gemeente formuleerde het uiteindelijke resultaat helder: Het lied moet staan voor de gezamenlijke West Betuwse identiteit, karakteristieke eigenschappen uit de leefomgeving, landschappen, gebruiken en tradities en/of gebeurtenissen uit het verleden. En het moet een positief gevoel van trots, saamhorigheid en sociale verbondenheid oproepen. Herkenbaarheid van West Betuwe Wethouder Van Stappershoef is voorzitter van de jury en ongelofelijk trots. “Wat is er toch veel muzikaliteit én creativiteit in West Betuwe. Ik heb zeven totaal verschillende liedjes gehoord, van kleinkunst tot musical-achtig tot meezinger. Alle liedjes hadden hun karakteristieke eigenschappen. En toch werd in ieder nummer bezongen: de herkenbaarheid van de streek, de trots, en liefde voor de plek waar we leven en genieten. Het ontroerde me, net als het aanwezige publiek in de zaal. Muziek is een prachtig bindmiddel, het zorgt voor samenkomst en helpt met de beleving van onze gemeenschappelijke West Betuwse identiteit.” Juryrapport De zeven kanshebbers brachten ieder op verschillende vlakken de juiste emotie over. Toch kan maar één act hét West Betuws Lied maken en winnen. Het was moeilijk kiezen volgens de jury. Corrie en Ben brachten als beste het West Betuwse gevoel over, tekstueel en muzikaal. “Het lied voldeed het meest aan de criteria. Vanaf de eerste noot was het inhaken geblazen. En het refrein is makkelijk te onthouden. Dat willen we bereiken. Het nummer moet emotie oproepen, aanzetten tot meedoen. Alsof iedere luisteraar er onderdeel van is. Het is een aanstekelijk lied dat breed in onze samenleving gezongen zal worden.” Aldus juryvoorzitter Van Stappershoef. Winnaars Corrie van Diggelen & Ben van den Bosch met de juryvoorzitter - Foto: gemeente West Betuwe Organisatie De gehele organisatie was in handen van SMOBEO (Marieke Zevenbergen en Jan Neeteson) en de cultuurcoach van Welzijn West Betuwe (Gabri Wijnakker). “De deelnemers hebben hard gewerkt om hun creaties tot hun recht laten komen. En dat is goed gelukt. De setting van een mooi groot live podium, een livestream en een fijn en enthousiast publiek droeg enorm bij om hen goed uit de verf te laten komen. Het was een heel succesvolle en fijne muzikale middag!” Aldus Marieke Zevenbergen. Vervolg Het winnende West Betuws Lied wordt opgenomen en uitgewerkt in verschillende arrangementen. Zo kunnen in de toekomst muziekverenigingen, koren en andere muziekgroepen het nummer uitvoeren. En misschien deint het publiek dan weer mee. Het winnende lied is naast alle andere inzendingen te beluisteren op de website van Het West Betuws Lied via www.hetwestbetuwslied.nl/deelnemers.

[fantasy-vibes-with-the-magi]

Albert Hammond Jr. Announces New Album Melodies on Hiatus, Shares Video for New Song: Watch

The Stroke’s first solo record in five years features GoldLink, Arctic Monkeys’ Matt Helders, and more from RSS: News https://ift.tt/f3ZUYLS

[neonscopecommunity]

Albert Hammond Jr. Announces New Album Melodies on Hiatus, Shares Video for New Song: Watch

The Stroke’s first solo record in five years features GoldLink, Arctic Monkeys’ Matt Helders, and more from RSS: News https://ift.tt/F1APtd6 via IFTTT

[pkmacabre-shadow]

Captain N: New Adventures

Chapter 3

Palutena heard the commotion of 6 people. In fact, she heard 3 new voices, meaning that the players have arrived. She could tell the confusion in the voices of one of the players, so she decided to show up and give out the answers what everyone needed.

“I can explain what’s going on,” she spoke. Everyone looked and turned around to where that voice came from. “Lady Palutena,” saluted Pit.

“I see you and our friends made it to Skyworld safely?” asked Palutena. “Uh- Y-yes m’am,” answered Chester. Palutena chuckled. “Well, that is a good sign,” she said. “Now then, let’s start with what’s happening.”

Palutena sighed, and spoke: “I’ve brought you all here for an important mission.”

Wren, Chester, and Melody caught on; Megaman, Pit, and Kirby, on the other hand, were caught off guard. “I’m sorry, a mission?” questioned Chester. “Yes,” Palutena answered.

“You see, there are new threats named Galeem and Dharkon,” she continued, “they are the embodiments of light and darkness.”

“Everyone was turned into puppets of their control, not until Kirby rescued all of us,” she added. A poyo was heard, making everyone to look for the source of the sound. “I didn’t see you there when we were saving them,” said Pit.

“Yeah, I should really thank you for that,” Chester added.

Then Palutena continued the story. In short, Kirby went on a long journey saving his friends, with all of which being successful. However, Galeem came back with vengeance, along with Dharkon. Not even being cut in half by Sephiroth couldn’t keep him down. She told them that the reason why she chose them is because of their skills that could potentially help them in defeating them.

“So all of that is because of the fight for control?” questioned Melody. “Technically yes,” answered Palutena.

Because of the information Chester was given, he became shaken and asked: “Why me? Why me and my friends of all people?”

Palutena looked with sympathy. She knew how things worked between the digital world and the real world, but she had to tell him about it.

“The thing is… you and your friends are chosen because of your father,” she answered. That brought on a shock to everyone. Well, almost as Megaman and Kirby knew what Palutena meant.

“My dad?” Asked Chester.

“Indeed he was,” Palutena responded, “he was your father since 1995 as Captain N, and he’s kinda like you.”

She told Chester his father’s story: His father, Kevin Keene, is a game master like him until he traveled to the digital world and became Captain N. Tabuu was the world’s first threat, and he defeated him with the hell of Sonic. “And now you know,” Palutena responded.

Chester was shocked at this revelation; you mean that his father was the one who defeated Tabuu all these years ago? Then why did he only tell him and his sister that he used to be the game master all these years ago?

“I know this is a lot to take in, Chester,” said Palutena, reassuring. “He may need some time to think about it,” said Melody with Wren nodding in agreement.

All of a sudden, Megaman got a call. “Oh no,” he said, “it’s Doctor Wily.”

Everyone got prepared. “Don’t worry Rock, we’ll help you out,” said Pit. “But what about the others?” Asked Megaman, in a worried tone.

“It’s okay, because I gave them their weapons: The joycons,” answered Palutena.

The three teens looked at themselves. Chester has them on his waist. Melody also has one too, but it’s at the opposite side of her bag. And finally, Wren sees both of them on her wrists.

“I help you guys out with them,” said Pit, “In the meantime, we’ll fly down to Monsteropolis to fight Wily. Think of it as a practice exercise.”

“We’ll be also seeing Simon and Little Mac, even Doc Louis,” added Megaman.

Pit looked at his robotic friend, then back at the players. “C’mon, we gotta go. Come with us or we’ll be in danger,” said Pit.

With one more look at Palutena, Chester looked back at Pit and joined them.

[jurjenkvanderhoek]

EEN LEVENSVERHAAL IN PAARS VINYL

Het is een lied van symbolen, dat weet ik nu. Een zachte stem voert mij zingend naar tuinen tussen sneeuwwitte bloemen en kelken vol licht. De zon verwarmt en ik word gekust door de regen. Het schijnt een liefdeslied op het leven. De stem houdt van het leven, maar ziet ook valkuilen in dat zijn. Die hobbels op de weg hoor ik niet in het lied. Toen niet, in 1968. Maar nu wel, in 2022. De stem zingt mij nu wel de stadia van het leven, die ik toen ik jong was – een tiener nog – niet doorzag. Nu ik ouder geworden ben en het leven heb gezien, doorleefd, wordt mij veel duidelijk in het lied. Misschien dat Elly Nieman, getrouwd Zuiderveld, daarom nu pas het laatste couplet “De achtste tuin” aan het lied “De zeven tuinen” kon schrijven.

André van der Weide van NoorderLicht Project graaft het lied op en krijgt van platenmaatschappij Universal toestemming het bij te schaven en uit te brengen. Dan daagt hij Elly Nieman uit om een ‘Achtste tuin’ tekst te schrijven en haar bijna dood ervaring blijkt daarvoor een goede voedingsbodem, de juiste inspiratie. Van der Weide maakt vervolgens in de trant van de oude melodie een nieuw arrangement met andere instrumenten om de weemoed in klank te verbeelden.

In dat lied van toen doorloopt Elly als jonge vrouw zes tuinen. Van baby en peuter tot meisje, alles is vrede en liefde – pais en vree, er zijn geheimen natuurlijk en er is bekoring en verleiding. Aan die verzoeking toe te geven geeft spijt achteraf, het is het Bijbelse onderscheid en inzicht tussen goed en kwaad. Het verkeerde pad in lopen geeft heimwee, maar je had wel plezier op dat moment. De kater is berouw. En terwijl je die andere tuinen zo kon binnen wandelen, want je was die dag zo vrolijk, weerhoudt een loodgrijze muur jou de laatste tuin binnen te gaan. “Ik kan er wel heen, maar mijn angst is te groot, want achter die muur wacht de tuin van de dood.”

Elly Nieman schreef het lied nog voor haar bekering. In haar tienerjaren had ze zich, nadat een vriendinnetje plotseling was overleden, afgekeerd van het geloof. Ze verwarde de kerk met God toen en verzoende zich ermee nooit in de hemel te zullen komen. Nadat zij Rikkert Zuiderveld had ontmoet en met hem een relatie aanging, is ze samen met hem op zoek gegaan naar de waarheid en maakt kennis met verschillende religies. In die tijd schreef ze dit lied, van die zeven tuinen. Waarvan het eind zich in figuurlijke nevelen hult. Het enige dat daaraan zeker en vast is – klaar en helder is de dood, het einde, een streep onder het leven. Uit niets spreekt dat er nog iets anders dan de dood na die muur zal zijn.

In het lied proeft Elly aan het leven, ze doet zich als de Grietje van Hans tegoed aan het zoet en het zacht. Daarna eet ze van het leven en gaat door de tijd als christelijk bloemenkind, hippie van God. Dansend en zingend door de tijd. Nu ze heeft gesmuld van het leven is het goed zich te bezinnen, terug te kijken op wat nog moet worden afgerond. Eén van die onvoltooide zaken is het lied “De zeven tuinen”. Toen destijds was het af, klaar. Het haalde het album “Een ander land”. Ik zocht de plaat op en draaide de elpee op mijn platenspeler. Een heerlijk gekraak duidt erop dat ik de plaat ooit grijs heb gedraaid. Vooral het lied “Vreemde vogels” komt uit mijn herinnering nog weleens vrolijk boven drijven. De stem van Elly is door dat zwarte vinyl zacht en breekbaar, de muziek dromerig. Ik zweef met haar zo door de tuinen en beland met beide benen op de grond bij die muur, die loodgrijze muur van angst. Het duidde een periode, net als die andere songs van dat album. Hoewel er enkele gedateerd zijn, zijn andere tijdloos. De tuinen is daar één van. Vooral nu het is voltooid.

Want die achtste tuin is het gebied na de dood, de eeuwige jachtvelden, het hiernamaals. Met de dood is het leven wel eindig, maar nog niet klaar. De zevende tuin is de tuin van de dood, maar de achtste tuin is de tuin van de hemel. Toen Elly het lied schreef was ze niet zo zeker van dat leven na de dood. Nu is ze dat wel en kan er over schrijven en vol lof van zingen. In dat laatste couplet, dat eigenlijk de vervolmaking van het lied is maar een eigen arrangement heeft, omschrijft ze haar bijna dood ervaring. Iemand voert haar mee op vleugels van vuur hoog over de muur naar de tuin die nog moet komen. Maar eigenlijk vliegt ze over die tuin en belandt in de achtste tuin. Daar mag ze even gluren en ziet zilveren vogels en vliegende vissen, regenboogbeken en koepels van glas. Ze hoort engelenstemmen, fonteinen van woorden en zoete akkoorden. Maar ze mag er niet blijven, hoewel de verleiding groot is.

Het album “De acht tuinen” is een collectors item, een object voor de verzamelaar. Hoeveel plaatjes ervan geperst zijn weet ik niet, maar het is stellig geen grote oplage. De beide liedjes zijn geperst in paars vinyl en dat is niet zomaar omdat het een vrolijke tint is. De kleur paars namelijk staat religieus symbool voor boete, inkeer en vergeving. Op kant A van het 45 toeren plaatje vind ik het eerste lied terug, het hiernumaals. Even breekbaar gezongen als toen in de jaren 60 van de vorige eeuw. Geen wonder, het is hetzelfde lied, enkel enigszins digitaal bijgeschaafd. Op kant B staat de voltooiing of eigenlijk de voleinding, het besluit, de slotscène, het hiernamaals. De stem van Elly is hoorbaar doorleefd, het zacht dromerige is versleten. Maar het is geen afgesleten stem, de klank is nog voortdurend helder.

En de opmaak van de kleurige hoes waarin het plaatje zit is precies zoals ik me Elly Zuiderveld, geboren Nieman, voorstel. De jonge meid zit in een wit gewaad met een krans in het haar tussen de bloemen onder een regenboog. En wanneer de hekken opengaan van de schijnbaar achtste tuin danst ze kinderen met ballonnen aan hun hand tegemoet. Ze is zichtbaar ouder geworden, maar straalt nog steeds. Vlinders dartelen om hen heen, duiven vliegen in de lucht en vissen, ichthustekens: Jezus Christus, Zoon van God. De hoes en de plaat daarin verbeelden eigenlijk het leven van Elly Zuiderveld-Nieman. Het is een testament bijna. Daarin geeft ze haar hoop weg aan een ieder die het wil hebben.

De acht tuinen. Elly Zuiderveld-Nieman. Single in klaphoes. Uitgave NoorderLicht Music Publishing, 2021. Verschenen bij Noorderlicht Project, december 2022.

[comicwaren]

From Deadpool: Assassin #002

Art by Mark Bagley, John Dell and Edgar Delgado

Written by Cullen Bunn

[movedyourchair505]

Sono Tuo

if mafia bad, why hot?

- chapter navigation -

x

The sound of the needle rattling seemed louder than the melody it drew from the record spinning across the room, despite the ceiling fan spinning right above her head, her face felt hot, her fingers were tense, she did not want to touch anything, felt everything was restrictive, had taken off the dress she'd been wearing for half the day and was now sat anxiously on the bed in  her underwear, for some reason still felt too warm as she waited, impatient, on edge.

It wasn't the initial panic the morning after that had pushed her over the edge, not the strange sensation in her abdomen, not the craving of food Alexander had had that she usually did not need him to share, not even the irregular change in cycle. But less than an hour had passed since she had returned from the bathroom, glad Alexander had already gone that morning and not witnessed anything. She'd brushed her teeth now, but the tears of discomfort and fear had not stopped coming every now and then, even now she was still on the verge, checked her phone again for an update from Miles. The consideration of who to ask had been brief, she knew that no member of security would make sense, she could not safely assume that not everything she required would somehow, soon, reach Alexander. And, as she had already guessed, no one would see or suspect anything if she merely called Miles, even if he had to go to a pharmacy, though it'd turned out he kept an abundance of tests at his apartment. She did, however, not feel like she could go there now, though was starting to regret that decision, as the waiting was slowly driving her mad, at least a short journey would have been a distraction.

She jumped when the door clicked open, Helders coming into view, though diverting his gaze. "Kane's here."

"Fookin'ell, she's expectin' me."

"I am..." Jade said, her voice quieter than anticipated, and she only dropped the tension in her shoulder when the door fell shut again. "He's going to tell him."

"Tell him wha'?" Miles asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That I'm fucking crying," Jade snapped, rising from the bed and holding her hand out impatiently in front of him.

"'e didn't see..."

Her eyes darkened and she watched as he reached into the inside pocket of his white suit jacket.

"I didn't fink tha' ya..."

Her fingers closed around the box, but she waited, kept her eyes on his. "That I what?"

"Be... so... I mean... ya dun't want... a famileh?"

"When have I ever said that?"

His eyes widened. "Jade, I thought you'd 'ave spoken teh 'im about this. 'e won't want ya not teh go thr-..."

Jade tilted her head to the side, staring back at him in disbelief. "He won't want what?" she huffed, shaking her head and passing him on her way into the bathroom, cursing under her breath.

"Sorreh?"

"I got what I need, you can go."

"Wha'? Nah, I'll wait wif ya. I'm 'ere for ya."

"Clearly," she huffed, sarcasm lacing her voice, her desperation replaced by anger instantly. "I don't need that kind of support. I do whatever the fuck I want. You can be whoever you want, he can be Alexander Turner all he wants." She closed the door, locked it before his hand could even touch the handle. "Out."

"Tha' is not wha' I meant, bella..." he sighed, staying close on the other side as she shuffled out of her thong and sunk down. "I joost thought yeh was worried 'bout 'is reaction 'n all..." He cleared his throat. "I can't believe ya 'aven't spoken t'im 'bout it. Trust meh, I know 'im. 'e wants this."

She huffed. "And isn't that all that matters."

"No, Al just-..."

"This isn't up to him," she stated, standing back up, the instructions simple enough and she adjusted her underwear, placed down the test out of immediate sight, though staying as she was, not unlocking the door.

"So wha'? Ya gunna get rid of it?"

"I don't even know if there's anything to get rid of yet." She swallowed hard, biting her lip. She couldn't say she'd given the idea of Alexander as father much thought, much less her as a mother. But she knew him too. If not for the sake of his own family, he would want an heir to his empire, more power. And no child would ever be safer than his. Her voice was quieter when she spoke again. "He wants this?"

"I thought 'e would've told ya before marryin' ya."

"Fuck you."

"Wha-...? Bella..."

She dried her hands, stepping away from the sink and slowly unlocking the door, staring right back into Kane's eyes on the other side. "You're ridiculous." She walked past him, pulling on her silk dressing gown.

"D'ya not want a famileh wif 'im?" he asked, his own voice now tenser.

"Is that any of your business?" She couldn't help but remember his instructions, his threats concerning her treatment of Alexander. She ran her fingers through her hair. "One time I forget," she muttered, shaking her head. "Fucking one."

"Talk to 'im about this, bella."

Her gaze snapped up. "You really don't know me, do you, Kane?"

"Oh, come on..."

"I told you I don’t need you here."

He swallowed, his eyes remaining on her, though spinning around when the door opened audibly, Alexander stepping inside.

Jade's heart skipped a beat when she saw him, tensing instantly, barely able to form a coherent thought when he was already right there, one look at her face all it took for him to rush and pull her in, his arms around her.

"Darlin'..." he drawled, the depth of his voice as unsettling as it was comforting. "Wha's wrong, eh?"

"Alexander..." she whispered, her lips against his neck, her fingers running through his hair at the back of his head. The blur of smoke and the spice of cologne was hopelessly overpowering. She heard movement, tilted her head and saw Kane cross the room and step into the bathroom.

"I were on me way teh the meetin' but Maffew told meh yeh seemed upset."

She swallowed hard, her eyes widening when Kane stepped back out of the bathroom, held up the test, she could just about make it out from the distance, the look on his face saying it all. He pressed his lips together, the softness in his eyes comforting despite before he was out the door.

Alexander drew back slightly, though kept his arms around her, aware of his friend's exit, yet she maintained his full attention. "Are yeh okeh?"

She realised only then that tears were pearling down her cheeks and she forced a smile, taking a deep breath. "I can't believe this..." She tried to compose herself, frustrated with the emotion overcoming her, leaving her powerless. "Fuck."

"Jade, darlin'..." he rasped, his forehead coming to rest against hers. "There ain't anehfin' yeh can't tell meh, no matter wha', eh?"

She could not take it any longer. "I'm pregnant, Alexander." Despite what Kane had said, she'd been convinced she knew what to prepare for. But she hadn't.

His eyes widened with evident shock, then his arm tightened around her, a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth. "Doll..." he said, his voice lowered. "Is tha' rehyt?"

She licked her lips, surprised by the confidence with which she met his gaze, unprepared for the softness in his eyes. "I think so," she said. "The other night after the opera I forgot to take..." She took another breath. "Alexander..."

He blinked slowly, fear creeping into his gaze. "No..." he whispered. "No, Jade..."

Her hands moved to smooth his shirt down over his chest, struggling to take even breaths. "You want this," she concluded, could read him effortlessly, knew him.

His hand came up to cup the side of her face, her skin warm against his palm. The unfiltered joy was slowly but surely facing growing panic, desperation. "Please," he whispered. "I do. 'course I do, sweet'eart." He realised her tears were not joy and his no longer were either now. "Talk t'meh."

"I just never-..." She stopped herself. "I did not see this coming. You... this is what you want?"

"Jade, y'kno' 'ow mooch me famileh means t'meh. I want me own, I alwehs 'ave. But I want you, doll. I want this wif you. Tell meh wha's on yehr mind."

She leaned forward, closing her eyes, her forehead against his chest as she tried to make sense of the chaos in her mind. "How things will change," she said.

He pulled her closer, pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I won't try teh persuade yeh if yeh've made up yehr mind," he whispered, his voice strained, barely audible with the last word. She was shaking in his arms and he hated being somewhat responsible. "But if yeh 'ave... worries... let meh ease 'em."

She knew what he would say, and she knew he would be right. His words brought fresh tears to her eyes. Nothing mattered more to him than she did. Being his meant being invincible. And apart from herself, there was one more person she wanted that for. He was Alexander Turner, and there were no worries she knew he couldn't ease for her, no worries that didn't stem from shock rather than actual insecurity and doubt. Slowly, she drew back to lift her head. "If it's a girl-..."

The smile that lit up the edges of his face drew uncontrollable tears of relief from the corners of her eyes, her giggle shaky when he nodded understandingly, knew effortlessly what she would say, spoke with her.

"Valentina."

He brushed her hair back from her face, chuckling. "Of course."

She sniffed, then wrapped her arms tightly around him, sobbing her relief into his chest. "Ti amo."

He smoothed his fingers through her hair, his other hand spread out on the small of her back to keep her as close as she was. "Jade, cara mia," he whispered into her hair. "Sono tuo."

[theageoftheunderstatement]

Los Angeles Times: Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner on fame, Frank Sinatra and the elusive search for the ‘mega-riff’

Written by Mikael Wood, 21/10/2022

Arctic Monkeys blasted out of the U.K. in 2006 with “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not,” a scrappy modern-classic debut that framed the young quartet as a kind of transatlantic counterpart to the new wave of American garage-revival acts.

Seven years and a part-time move to Los Angeles later, the band conquered U.S. rock radio with the stomping and sexy “AM,” which spun off hits like “R U Mine?” and “Do I Wanna Know?” (Current Spotify play count for the latter: 1.4 billion.) Now the Monkeys — singer Alex Turner, guitarist Jamie Cook, bassist Nick O’Malley and drummer Matt Helders — are two albums deep into their older-and-weirder phase: On “The Car,” which came out Friday and follows 2018’s “Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino,” Turner croons enigmatically about disco balls and snooker clubs over slo-mo psychedelic funk that suggests an otherworldly wedding band.

Which was actually a gig Turner, 36, took up recently when he serenaded a couple of just-married friends with Dion’s “Only You Know” at their nuptials in L.A. “How’d you hear about that?” he asked a few days later over tea in a deserted Los Feliz bar. Told a guest had posted a clip of his performance on Instagram, he laughed and said, “Suppose it would be astonishing these days if that didn’t happen.”

Indeed, though the Monkeys can fill arenas and headline festivals in the U.S., Turner is a proper tabloid-level celebrity (and low-key style icon) in London, where he’s back to living most of the time with his girlfriend, French singer Louise Verneuil. Dressed in a filmy floral-print shirt and smartly tailored trousers, he discussed Frank Sinatra, great hair and the death of England’s queen.

When you were 17 or 18, could you have envisioned yourself singing the way you’re singing now? No. At first I didn’t even accept that I was a singer. I can’t remember really thinking about the idea of melody within the vocal performances. It was focused a lot more on just getting the words out. I can’t put a percentage on it, but I feel like there were a lot more words per 30 seconds of music in that original stage.

Does the early stuff seem overly wordy to you now? I wouldn’t put it like that. But some of the choices I find amusing.

I caught your set at Primavera Sound a couple of weeks ago and there was this funny moment after “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” where you said to the audience, “Simple stuff — let’s hear it for simple stuff.” Well, I’d just repeated that phrase four times in the song, and by the fourth time I said it, people were still saying it back to me. So it seemed like I needed to give some recognition to simple stuff. Not that I necessarily think what we’re doing now is extremely complicated in comparison. But a song like that — that’s on “AM,” and I reckon we had a feeling before that record of trying to go more direct in that moment. I think that tune was probably the most direct you could go.

Do you find the idea of someone asking you to explain your songs excruciating? I don’t know if I’d go all the way to excruciating. I’m just not sure what I would say if someone were to ask me.

As a listener, are you drawn to music that can be kind of confusing? Absolutely not. I’m drawn to straightforward things. 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.”

How’d you get into Sinatra? Through my dad when I was a little kid. He was playing in a big band, and his stepdad was part of a big band. Between being in my dad’s car and being with my grandparents, that music was around a lot.

Does it feel reasonable to compare “The Car” to something like Sinatra? I’d certainly be careful with that. But the fact that that kind of music has been there is probably partly responsible for why I’ve arrived at a place where I thought it was all right to scratch whatever we’ve been scratching on these last couple of records.

A thing I love about Sinatra is that he still had swagger even as he got older, lost his hair and gained some weight. I remember when I was a kid my grandmother trying to convince me that, you know, “This is what a pop star used to be.” I was like, “What? No, that’s in a different world.” This was when the thing was, like, boy bands or whatever it was. But she was like, “This is what young people used to be mad for.”

You have famously great hair. As a pop star, do you worry about losing it? On some level, no one’s thrilled about that. But I suppose the guy with the microphone has more of a cause for concern. It’s one show at a time, isn’t it?

Say more about being the guy with the microphone. Your performance style these days feels to me like a kind of riff on that idea. There’s a self-awareness to the way you carry yourself. Because we’re back onstage again [after the pandemic], I’m trying not to let myself do things that I would have done three years ago. I’m trying to wrangle the gestures into what’s right for this music, and I think I’m kind of starting to figure it out. It’s not as if I’m sitting down with video after a show and making notes, though in a weird way, I don’t mind that idea.

There are some historical through lines to the role, right? Harry Styles’ act runs back through you and through guys from the ’70s and back to Sinatra. When you see Harry, are you like, “Yeah, I know what that guy’s doing”? What is the answer to that? [Laughs] I feel like I’d have to go see his show to be able to properly answer. Sooner or later I’ll get the chance.

Some Arctic Monkeys fans will hear this album and wish it was more of a loud rock thing. I’m sure. But the rock-guitar side of things, it’s still in there — more than I expected it to be, if I’m honest. I’d been working on this for a while by myself before we had a session with the band. And in that session I started to find myself wanting to stand up and turn up the guitar amp.

Your drummer, Matt, recently told an interviewer that the “heavy riffs” were never coming back. I can’t rule out the possibility that we’re gonna write another mega-riff. But I didn’t find one this time.

Do you enjoy being a pop star? I have very little basis for comparison. The band has been going on for a larger fraction of my lifetime than it hasn’t, which is a threshold that’s only just been crossed. That’s the point at which you cease to be able to give a valid answer to that question.

You ever long for a more traditional life? I mean, just like writing a mega-riff, I don’t want to rule it out. I’m not taking anything off the table.

Last thing. I saw Duran Duran play the Hollywood Bowl in September, and they put a photo of the late Queen Elizabeth on the big video screens and asked the crowd for a moment of silence. What did the crowd do?

Kept respectfully quiet. I don’t know if you’ll have an answer to this, but if you’d been playing a show that weekend, would you have felt some impulse to comment onstage? [Pauses] I think you were right when you said I might not have an answer to that.

[ahjdaily]

INTERVIEW: WARP Presenta: Entrevista con Albert Hammond Jr, la cinematografía detrás de Melodies in Hiatus

By Rob Anaya | 08/09/2023

This interview is solely in Spanish. For an English-translated version of the website: click here Please note, the translation may not be not entirely accurate.

For archival purposes, full text is stored below.

Cuando se trata de Albert Hammond Jr. no hay mucho que decir más de lo que no se haya dicho como el guitarrista de The Strokes es una banda mundialmente popular con millones de discos venidos, con presentaciones en festivales por todo el mundo y programados en muchas estaciones de radio y con miles de reproducciones en streaming, así que, por esa parte, sí, no hay mucho que revelar, pero en cuanto a su carrera solista vaya que hay un mundo por explorar y en eso nos enfocamos.

Platicamos con él de su nuevo álbum en solitario, Melodies on Hiatus, uno de los más desafiantes e innovadores en su carrera solista la cual no es cosa menor, con este es ya su quinto disco de estudio, lo cual la convierta automáticamente en una carrera bastante sólida y que no le pide nada a nadie.

Alber Hammond Jr. sin duda ha crecido mucho como artista, aunque no le guste revelarlo, tiene una modestia marcada pero agradable, y en este disco nos deja claro que su nivel de experimentación ha alcanzado una nueva etapa, se ha rodeado de grandes colaboradores como Matt Helders de Arctic Monkeys y una de las voces más increíbles, aunque poco conocidas de la actualidad como Rainsford.

Acompáñenos juntos hasta Hiatus para descubrir estas melodías en donde Albert trabajó muy fuerte para seguir despuntando en el panorama musical, y meternos a fondo a su proceso creativo como artista, a sus recuerdos y claro, el cariño que le tiene a México.

Melodies in Hiatus es tu primer disco nuevo en tres años, ¿cómo te sentiste en el proceso de grabación desde componer la primera canción hasta terminarlo?

Seré honesto, casi nunca recuerdo mucho ese tipo de momentos, pero en general las veces que me tocó estar en el estudio tuve altibajos, y hay días en donde todo te parece aburrido y sientes que necesitas dar un extra, pero definitivamente me encontraba entusiasmado y de repente te das cuenta de que tienes un montón de trabajo por hacer y que esto va a llegar demasiado lejos, yo creo que esa fue la parte especial en esta ocasión.

Que bien, de hecho, este disco se siente muy fresco ¿sabes? Una de las grandes canciones que me gustaron mucho fue tu colaboración con GoldLInk en “100-99”, tiene muchos tintes melódicos que quizás antes no habías explorado tanto lo cual la vuelve un sencillo único, ¿así que, ¿cómo se dio esta colaboración?

Esa pues, puede ser que todo lo que hago es muy orgánico y esa canción simplemente la terminé y a mí siempre me ha interesado el hip hop y sus artistas, y ya sea en canciones de The Strokes o en canciones mías, siempre hay algo de ello, por ejemplo “en “Automatic Stop” pensé que podía grabar ese loop y rapear sobre él. No sé, ideas así, me gusta, crecí en Los Ángeles y amaba a Dr. Dre cuando yo tenía diez u once años de edad, y particularmente en este sencillo cuando tenía mi parte terminada simplemente pensé que sería genial rapear en ella, y tuve la suerte de que GoldLink quisiera colaborar, ni siquiera nunca nos reunimos, no sabía cómo iba a terminar la canción, todo se dio así y me pareció bien. De hecho, fue una de las últimas canciones que se agregaron.

Genial, no sabía que en tu juventud fuiste muy fan de Dr. Dre, es algo bueno descubrir…

Claro, ¿qué no nos gustaba a todos? Jajaja.  Ya sabes vivir en Los Ángeles, en la adolescencia, en esa época era enorme, Dr. Dre fue enorme, todo el rap de los 90 lo fue, y algunas canciones eran muy melódicas, había grandes temas como “It Was A Good Day” de Ice Cube, esa sigue siendo una de mis canciones favoritas por siempre, siempre la incluyó en todas mis playlist, es genial.

También tienes otras colaboraciones muy importantes en el resto del disco, como “Thoughtful Distress” con Matt Helders de los Arctic Monkeys, y también con el gran Steve Stevens, lo cual es increíble, ¿cómo se concretó esto?

Sí, en general fue muy natural, Matt vive aquí en Los Ángeles y siempre me ha gustado su estilo como baterista, y siempre hablábamos de hacer algo juntos, así que lo  llamé, y la canción correcta se dio  y luego Steve Stevens vino a moldear la parte final de la canción con su sello y también en el bajo tenemos a Nicole, es una gran bajista, se armó una buena banda para esto y todos estaban muy entusiasmados de estar trabajando conmigo en la canción, de hecho tratamos de llevarla igual a un terreno más de rap pero conforme fuimos avanzando tomó otra dirección, así que estar con gente así y músicos así solo quieres pasarla bien y también quieres crear  algo que te guste y simplemente los dejas hacer lo que quieran sabes, no los voy a presionar, jajaa, y al final todo funcionó, me siento muy afortunado con esa canción.

Otra colaboración que captó mi atención fue con Rainsford en “Remember” y también en “Alrigh Tomorrow”, la última canción del disco, que personalmente fue mi favorita por que personalmente no te había escuchado algo similar, ¿sabes? Creo que llevaste tu nivel de composición a otro lado que no habías explorado así de esa forma, y encima con esa poderosa voz de Rainsford, ¿cómo te sentiste al componer esa canción?

Para ser honesto, se sintió como yo, siempre he sido yo el que ha estado tratando de hacer esa música que me gusta, tratando de buscar esos sonidos, esa forma de componer, y cuanto estaba escribiendo esta canción lo supe al instante que esta no era una canción para que yo la cantará, pensé en una gran voz, siempre he tratado de componer canciones y colaborar con artistas femeninas, el disco tiene muchas canciones y está bien que no en todas escuchen mi voz, y la voz de Rainsford es irreal, pero irreal en serio, pensé que si quería cantar en mi canción sería grandioso, y al final esa canción se siente como si estuvieras en una película.

Absolutamente así la sentí y es uno de los puntos más altos en Melodies in Hiatus, precisamente por el poder de esa canción y el poder de la voz, y de hecho me parece muy poético que justo sea la última canción en el disco…

Sí, fue a propósito, jajaja, es una linda manera de decir adiós. Y si vuelves a escuchar el disco de nuevo, lo vas a sentir totalmente diferente a como la primera vez, ¿sabes? Vas a sentir un reseteo y pensaras, “¿wau ¿esta es la primera canción?”. Me tomó mucho tiempo colocar las canciones en el orden correcto, fue una locura, a veces piensas que a lo mejor solo nueve canciones van a ser buenas y las otras muy raras, pero luego vas más allá, y lo vuelves a escuchar para tener un buen orden y me lleve muchísimo tiempo en ello.

Otro gran concepto de este nuevo álbum es la serie de videos que has sacado y que preparaste, tienen una escuela muy cinematográfica, se siente como una pequeña película, ¿sabes? Y también sé que te gusta mucho actuar, es algo que disfrutas. ¿Cómo fue tu experiencia en las filmaciones?

Sin duda, tuve mucha suerte de que Angela Ricciardi y Silken Weinberg los grabara, y bueno, hay mucho que responder a tu pregunta…

Yo estudié en una escuela de cine, siempre quise hacer algo relacionado a la escritura, a la producción o a la dirección, o hacer soundtracks, todo siempre impulsado por como las películas fueron algo tan importante en mi juventud, y el cine siempre ha estado en mi sangre igual que la música.

Y con este disco estaba intentando hacer una película, en donde el personaje principal es muy exitoso en Las Vegas, pero fuera de ella no lo es, e intenta escapar de esa vida fácil pero no puede, y ya tenía eso en mente y así conocí a Angela, le conté todo eso, y ella me ayudo a materializarlo, ¿sabes? También con su toque y de repente ese espacio vacío se fue llenando con otro espacio de ideas, un espacio en donde esta personaje principal ha vivido toda su vida, como se muestra en la serie, y en estos lugares como el bar a donde bebe, y otro lugar importante es una cocina  en donde juega juegos de póker o lo que sea que se le de la gana hacer,  y recibe palizas, y en uno de los últimos ya me toca interpretar una canción en el escenario como lo hago cada noche o como lo hace este personaje que creamos para la serie.

Angela y yo hablamos sobre la ejecución y teníamos gustos similares en cuanto a directores y estéticas y estilos, simplemente tratamos de llegar juntos a esta creación única, sí, hicimos cinco videos extraordinarios, y ojalá pudiéramos haber grabado más, fue algo muy divertido, de verdad me puso a prueba a mi mismo, y a todos en el grupo de trabajo, digo, grabar cinco videos en dos días no es nada fácil, y si vuelves a ver los videos con atención notaras muchas imperfecciones, por que simplemente no teníamos tiempo, digo, no me importa mucho, encajaron bien, pero sin duda fue difícil.

Justo el último que vi fue el de “One Chance” y me encantó la pelea que plantean

Sí, fue muy divertido y en verdad tenía muchas ganas de hacer más, peor teníamos en promedio dos horas para grabar un video, y yo siempre hago el mismo roll porque aprenderme la coreografía en dos horas es casi imposible que pase. Si quizás tuvimos tres descansos fue mucho, fue como “estás bromeando”. Ni siquiera tuvimos el tiempo como para entender los movimientos de las cámaras pro lo que hacíamos o lo mismo con los actores, coordinar todo eso te lleva semanas, o al menos un día completo, lo aprendes en un día de pre grabación y al otro se filma como se debe.

Y justo hablando de cine, ¿tienes algunos directores favoritos en tu vida?

Sí, ya sabes, nada que sea completamente desconocido, aunque siempre trato de descubrir algo así. Los directores clásicos son maravillosos, Francis Ford Coppolla, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorcece, David Lynch, Spielberg, son los que me vienen a la mente. Su más reciente película me pareció increíble. Hay un director francés que se llama Luc Besson, que es simplemente increíble.

Regresando al nuevo disco Melodies In Hiatus, estuvo producido por Gus Oberg , un viejo conocido y muy amigo tuyo, y también en el pasado pues has trabajando con gente como Rick Rubin, ¿cuál crees que sea la diferencia entre trabajar con uno y otro?

Son más bien diferentes settings o perspectivas, con Gus he trabajado siempre en mis discos solistas y con el otro  he trabajado con The Strokes, nunca he trabajado yo con él uno a uno, peor los dos son personales muy inteligentes y entienden la música como pocos, los dos me han ayudado a sacar lo mejor de mí y de la banda, ayudan a aliviar ese peso que tienes cuando estas componiendo un disco, que incluye presión o ideas que no sabes a donde dirigirlas, y ellos son grandes personas que siempre me han terminado ayudando muchísimo, pero en realidad creo que son muy similares.

Rick con el paso del tiempo sigue creando éxitos y tiene una presencia fuerte. Es bueno rodearte de personas así.

La siguiente sección la titule “Discos en tu vida”, que son:

-Yours to Keep

-¿Cómo te Llama?

-Momentary Masters

-Francis Trouble

-Melodies on Hiatus

Así que, con ello, me gustaría saber, ¿cómo te sientes de tener ya cinco discos en tu carrera? Cada uno tiene algo especial y si es que sigues sintiendo esa misma adrenalina o emoción cuando terminas de grabar un álbum nuevo…

¿Te refieres a que sí es que sigo sintiendo la misma emoción? Bueno, el otro día estaba pensando en eso, justo no puedo creer que en realidad haya hecho tanta música, ya. 

SÍ, justo a eso me refiero, cinco discos ya es una carrera sólida, tomando en cuenta que también formas parte de una banda como The Strokes con la cual has estado activo desde hace muchos años

Puedo perderme muy fácil en el proceso de trabajar y hacer música, es de las cosas que más me gustan, y aun así algún día podrías preguntarme como me siento y quizás ese día odie todo por el proceso de emociones que te envuelve como si fuera una ruleta rusa, pero es algo muy puro, incluso cuando sientes que estas perdido siempre hay una posibilidad de salir adelante.

Siempre es emocionante, te diviertes y no puedes esperar a que la gente lo escuche, eso sí, el proceso de grabarlos es algo bastante largo, por ejemplo en este nuevo disco cuando ya estaba listo me tarde un año en sacarlo por el simple hecho de que hacer los vinilos te toma nueve meses, y me encanta pero ya cuando sale y la gente lo escucha para mi se siente como “el pasado” peor la gente no lo sabe y ahora me siento como una persona diferente, es algo interesante que los fans descubran lo que eras en ese momento, no sé, me siento como si fuera el 2019 cuando lo estaba componiendo, ya ni se quien era en ese entonces jajajajaj.

Pero sí, sigue siendo emocionante, me siento muy agradecido de tener una gran disquera, en donde me siento parte del sistema, y no puedes olvidar eso, y estoy en esta posición en donde soy un artista longevo y que aún haya gente interesada en escucharme, que invierta su tiempo para hacerlo en mí como artistas es genial, luego pienso en que ya he hecho todo lo que he querido y no sé que tengo que hacer después, pero la experimentación siempre aparece y me siento motivado de nuevo, y me quiero ir de tour, creo que para existir siempre tienes que seguir encontrando nuevas direcciones en la música,  son caminos cruzados interesantes.

Personalmente creo que con estos con estos discos en tu carrera ya has probado mucho, y has destacado como cantante, como compositor y como guitarrista. ¿Cómo te sientes en este momento de tu vida como artista? ¿Qué tanto crees que has evolucionado, te sientes más cómodo o más maduro?

No, me siento como que he vuelto a comenzar, tengo un gran maestro de guitarra y eso siempre me da una nueva perspectiva de a en donde me gustaría estar, o al menos tratar de entender que pasa, y eso me emociona. Y por otro lado es raro tener un ego al respecto y tener una postura, y a veces eso me pasa, no sé, seguro que les ha sucedido a muchos artistas que les va muy bien pero que se sienten inseguros con la música que están haciendo, así como he conocido gente que no ha hecho nada y son muy arrogantes, jajaja.  Mi meta es solo vivir el proceso y lo demás esta fuera de mi control, así que si no disfrutará de eso creo que estaría viviendo en un miedo constante.

Estoy seguro de que has vivido momentos geniales en tu carrera solista y también con The Strokes, que ya tienen más de 20 años de carrera, que han tocado junto con los Red Hot Chilli Pepeprs recientemente, en el pasado Eddie Vedder de Pearl Jam cantó en una de sus canciones, aún siguen siendo headliners en los festivales más grandes del mundo, y aquí en México llenaron un estadio, ¿alguna vez te imaginaste que pasaría todo eso?

Yo creo que eso es lo más raro de la vida, no importa, y la respuesta es que sí, si lo imaginé, en cierta escala. Porque cuando conocí a The Strokes, estos chicos y nos juntamos lo que sucedió fue magia, me sentía con una energía diferente cuando estábamos juntos, y cuando todo el éxito llego claro que fue una locura y fue sorpresivo, como es una sorpresa que veinte años después sigamos haciendo música, de hecho, sentí que seriamos importantes en algún momento, por que estaba en una banda grande, pero ¿sabía yo todo eso? Claro que no, pero incluso si nada de eso hubiera pasado me quedaría con ese sentimiento único que me provocaba el estar juntos en un cuarto de ensayos, todo se sentía diferente. Y algunas cosas son difíciles de predecir, como hacer canciones que van a pasar la prueba del paso del tiempo.

Y ya para terminar no quiero pasar la oportunidad de preguntarte sobre el último concierto que dieron The Strokes aquí en México en el Foro Sol, el cual se convirtió en el show mas grande de sus carreras, ¿qué memorias tienes de esa noche?

Solo tengo buenos recuerdos de esa noche, jajajaja. El momento más alto de nuestra carrera, espero que sea una buena premonición de lo que vendrá en los próximos años, porque sigue siendo emocionante rodearte de gente talentosa para hacer música, y con las cuales tienes mucho que compartir, así que eso hace que la banda se sienta poderosa y viva. Y tocar ese show nos abrió el panorama para pensar en cómo podría ser nuestro próximo disco, y creo que esa noche en ese show pudimos haber basado el espectáculo en un solo álbum y aun así todos lo hubiéramos disfrutado, peor en general se sintió como un nuevo comienzo dar ese show, fue mas que especial, tuve amigos que estuvieron presentes en esa noche y la multitud estuvo inolvidable, fue algo super eléctrico tocar en un concierto así de grande para tanta gente.