Third albums can be tricky. As if surviving the fabled 'sophomore slump' wasn't enough, it is a struggle for any band to prove in its third album that it is here to stay. Great Britain's Arctic Monkeys are not immune to the third album syndrome, but instead of treading lightly, careful not to make a mistake, they have taken a left turn away from their in-your-face attitude and created their most interesting record yet. The band worked almost exclusively with Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, presenting a different breed of Monkey on Humbug. The voice of lead singer Alex Turner has gotten deeper and sounds even darker - so much so that when coupled with his trademark lyrics, it creates an eerie mood apparent on the whole album.\nFrom the start, album opener "My Propeller" signals a change in direction. It retains a classic British rock feel, featuring tambourines and circular instrumentation, but Turner sings in a near-whisper that draws you in, almost magnetically. It sounds like the type of thing you might imagine James Bond would listen to during an off day.\nAs the album progresses, things only get gradually more intriguing as the Monkeys work their way through their bag of tricks. "Dangerous Animals" features a chorus filled with spelling - think Fergie's "Fergalicious" - while "Potion Approaching" works in handclaps, classic Monkeys guitars and chanting ... all the while melding in a Southern rock feel. Only during "Pretty Visitors" does the album veer back to familiar territory, where the band blends in synthesizers along with their guitars. It is the one track that would not sound out of place on their previous records.\nThat is not to say that Humbug is a massive departure from the band's previous work; it's different but it feels like a natural progression continuously strung together through Alex Turner's lyrics. Who else could make sense of these lines: "If we're going to escape though / We really ought to think it through / Would you like me to build you a go kart?" Later in the album, Turner describes the longing of a lost love on the standout, "Cornerstone", by approaching several lookalikes during a night out on the town, only to be turned down repeatedly when he politely asks his prospects, "Please, can I call you her name?" It takes a certain amount of wit to not sound like a stalker, but Turner pulls it off.\nReining in the album is Josh Homme's production, which is not so much the driving factor as it is a focal point. A distinct sound flows throughout; background vocals have an eerie echo effect to them, and the layering of the instrumentation is expertly done, all giving way to a near-psychedelic feel. The Beatles' later work sometimes springs to mind.\nHyperbole aside, Humbug really is an album worth a listen - or 10. It is not often that a band is so confident in its own identity that it throws caution to the wind, refusing an en vogue sound to create a record that no one else could have. But that is what has happened here. There are no flashy American producers, and there is no aim to top the Billboard Hot 100. Instead, a band embraces the third album syndrome by diving deep into the dark part of its psyche. It makes the listening all the better for us.
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