After eight years, The Last Shadow Puppets have finally released their long awaited second album: “Everything You’ve Come To Expect.” And this album certainly is everything I’ve come to expect from everyone’s favorite duo, Alex Turner and Miles Kane.

What strikes me most about “Everything You’ve Come To Expect” (EYCTE) as a whole, is its lyrics. This isn’t surprising to me, since Turner is known for his colorful and poetic lyrics. However, the Puppets’ latest album has equal lyrical input from both Kane and Turner. The pair's first single from the album that was released was "Bad Habits," and all longtime Puppets fans were disappointed, to say the least. The song had Kane as lead vocals, basically shouting “Bad habits!” for three minutes straight. It didn’t exactly set a promising tone for the rest of the album. However, after releasing three more songs from the album (“Everything You’ve Come To Expect,” “Aviation” and “Miracle Aligner”) fans were rest-assured that the Puppets hadn’t lost their unique flare, and were steadfast in their belief that the boys would deliver fans an album that could live up to—and possibly surpass—the mastery that was their first—“The Age Of The Understatement.”

And the fans’ intuition was certainly right. EYCTE is a masterpiece. It’s hard to pinpoint which track on the album is the greatest, but let’s just say, “Bad Habits” sticks out like a sore thumb among the rest. All of the songs on the album have romantic tones, often talking about the beauty of a mysterious woman. Some songs, like “Miracle Aligner,” have blatant sexual innuendos, with lines like:

Come on Miracle Aligner/Go and get em’ tiger/ Get down on your knees/Get down on your knees again

Turner also let fans know that the lyrics in this album are much more personal than usual, and that is evident in songs like “Sweet Dreams, TN” and “The Dream Synopsis.” In “Sweet Dreams, TN” Turner dreamily sings about a woman he loves:

You’re the first day of spring with a septum piercing/Little Miss sweet dreams, Tennessee

This is in reference to his girlfriend, Taylor Bagley, who happens to be from Tennessee and also happens to have a septum piercing. Turner’s dip into his personal life doesn’t end there, as he references his hometown in “The Dream Synopsis” when he sings the stand-out line:

A wicked wind came howling/Through Sheffield city centre

Not only lyrically, but also musically, EYCTE still holds up to, and definitely transcends, the brilliant intensity that was present in their first album. Each song is filled with such grandiose music—from the emotional sound of the string instruments, to the mystical sounds of the guitars playing. Lyrically and musically, the album definitely is everything fans have come to expect from Alex Turner and Miles Kane. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another eight years to hear some more amazing songs from them.

Here are some great lyrics from each song (minus “Bad Habits”, considering there aren’t many lyrics in that one to choose from):

Aviation:

The colourama in your eyes/It takes me on a moonlight drive/It’s the way you wing it/While you’re figuring it out

Miracle Aligner:

Often the humble kind but he can’t deny/He was born to blow your mind/Or something along those lines/Tonight

Dracula Teeth:

I wake up in an ice-cold sweat and my skin starts to creep/You’re hovering above my bed, looking down on me/Haunted house sound effect/Dracula Teeth

Everything You’ve Come To Expect:

Apocalyptic lipstick campaign/Four Horsemen in a one horse race/The dance she does to Shadowplay/Appeals to an ancient impulse

The Element Of Surprise:

The trouble with the chase is it’s so easy to crash/Why colour in the lines if you’re just painting it black?/I thought they were kisses but apparently not/do you end all your messages with an x marks the spot?

Sweet Dreams, TN:

And as your shrinking figure blows a kiss/I catch and smash it on my lips/Darling I can’t seem to quit/Completely falling to bits/I really might be losing it/The idea that you’ve existed all along’s ridiculous

Used To Be My Girl:

The odyssey/Came down kind of hard on me/The here and now so suddenly/Became a different world/Finally I slipped out of reality/It must all me imaginary/She used to be my girl

She Does The Woods:

She’ll jump in the river/You’ll wish you’re the water/And like no one else could/She does the woods/Faces made for daylight ought to be out of the house/You’d do the moon and back twice easy/Just to kiss half of her mouth/She’s what it’s all about

Pattern:

And I slip and I slide/Like a spider on an icicle/Frozen in time/It’s a trick of the light/I got a girl around the corner still/Trying to change my mind

The Dream Synopsis:

I’m in a building and I notice/That I’m surrounded by the ocean/I get a feeling, I start running/Don’t really know why I am running/I never really know why I am running/‘til I get caught/Want to wake up to my dream report?

The Bourne Identity:

Spilled the un-spillable beans/And I've dreamed every single impossible dream/I just can't remember any of the details/Let's just have a buzz because by the time I'm done fucking beating myself up/There'll be nothing left to love

I feel like the sequel/You wanna see but you were kinda hoping they would never make