Somewhere around 100,000 music fans will make the trek to the desert this weekend for the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The event takes place over the next two weekends and the headliners are LCD Soundsystem, Guns ‘n’ Roses and the electronic dance music DJ Calvin Harris.
There are more than 200 bands playing both weekends of the festival and one of them is The Last Shadow Puppets. It’s a collaboration between Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner — who regularly plays sold-out stadium shows — and solo artist Miles Kane. Their second album, titled “Everything You’ve Come to Expect,” was released on April 8.
The Frame’s John Horn spoke with Alex Turner and Miles Kane about their new album, why they like writing abstract lyrics, and how this band has helped them develop as musicians for their other projects.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
The lyrics on the title track, "Everything You've Come To Expect," are surreal and abstract. You both have mentioned in the past that you wanted to write those kinds of lyrics on this album.
TURNER: Well, I think on the first record, it was our first foray into less temporal lyrics. At certain moments on this record I thought it'd make sense to readdress that approach and disorientate the listener.
Is that because the lyrics are not driving the concept of the song? If the lyrics are disorienting, is that intentional that they're not being driven by story?
TURNER: Yeah, the first time we did this thing, it was the first time I remember looking at the lyrics along with the melody and the chords. You still, arguably, sometimes reach more or evoke more interest in feelings when you're not telling a story and someone is not right there with you. You just sort of create an atmosphere.
Everything You've Come To Expect
What is it that you two get out of The Last Shadow Puppets creatively that you don't get on your other bands or solo work?
TURNER: Well, that was the first time I tried to sing like that, write lyrics like that, so it totally changed [my] approach to recording, writing — everything.
What about for you, Miles?
KANE: I agree with Alex. I feel, even on this record, I found different areas in [my] voice that Alex pushed me into, just as an experiment that I tried...
TURNER: Not aggressively...
KANE: [Laughs] ...and where it opened up a new thing for me that I didn't think I could do, really — to sing a bit softer, a bit sexier. It doesn't all have to be venom.
So you guys went your separate ways for eight years. You come back, you grow up, you mature, but when you come back as older people, does it change the kinds of stories you want to tell through your songs?
TURNER: Yeah, perhaps that passage of time that you mentioned gives me a confidence to include more personal songs on there as well.
KANE: But I guess there are those moments that you are talking about, you know, your feelings towards being in love or feeling a bit down or something after a big night. There are those moments that are pretty straightforward in that sense that describe those things.
The Last Shadow Puppets' new album, "Everything You've Come To Expect," is out now. The band plays the two Friday nights at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.