AM puts the rhythm section at the centre of Arctic Monkeys' guitar sound. Hip-hop-influenced beats give the riffs room to repeat and settle into a groove, a different kind of momentum from the band's earlier garage rock. The restraint is part of the attraction: a few sharply placed sounds carry a lot of weight.

Recorded primarily in Los Angeles, the album also brings in Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. That connection fits the dry, distorted guitar textures, but the combination of those guitars with the beats gives the record its own character.