Initially, when I listened to Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino, I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Coming from the 2014 Tumblr greatness of their previous album AM, it was an extreme genre shift, but after a few listens, I was entirely hooked. Even pre-COVID, Alex Turner somehow predicted our dystopian descent into technology hell with songs like She Looks Like Fun. Other songs, such as The World’s First Ever Monster Truck Front Flip and The Ultracheese, are beautiful compositions with themes of lost love, long-gone friendships, and contemplation disguised as bizarrely named B-sides. 

Unfortunately for me, some of the beauty of this album is lost because I listened to it quite often during a toxic relationship. But as I move along in life, I always find myself coming back to TBHC, and progressively, the bittersweetness of that time wears away as I appreciate the lyricism and musicianship more than the memories associated with it.