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The term “Beatlesque” has been in use for as long as The Beatles themselves have been around. From the moment that the world’s biggest band became… well, the world’s biggest band, listeners have been tracing their influence on other artists’ work.

Sometimes it’s Jeff Lynne being so frequently compared to The Beatles’ psychedelic era that he eventually forms a working relationship with the band during the Anthology sessions. Sometimes it’s having your entire band’s identity be called into question because people think you’re The Beatles in disguise. And sometimes, it’s having so many Beatles-adjacent elements that it causes audiences to stop and think, “Wait, what song is that from again?”

That’s the case with Arctic Monkeys’ latest single, ‘Body Paint’. Thanks to unique chord movement, throwback instrumentals, and heavy use of orchestrations, the track is already getting comparisons to the Fab Four. But here’s the important thing to note – “Beatlesque” has turned into its own style of music, one that doesn’t actually have all that much to do with The Beatles themselves.

While it’s true that The Beatles embraced orchestral art rock in their more psychedelic period, the group also returned to more basic rock music in parts of The White Album and Let It Be. The swelling majesty of The Beatles’ more ornate work continued to filter in (especially on Abbey Road), but the extravagant combination of lush production, atypical chord progressions, and heavenly orchestrations became a style unto itself, later codified as sounding “Beatlesque”.

So when Electric Light Orchestra combines layers of harmony with sweeping string lines, it tends to register as sounding like The Beatles. It’s the same way when Elliott Smith hops from chromatic major chords in ‘Pictures Of Me’ or floats around the changes of E minor in ‘Baby Britain’ — you’ve already heard that happen in ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘I’m Only Sleeping’. The Beatles don’t have a monopoly on these elements of songwriting, but if you use them, it’s important to be aware of how they tend to come off to most listeners.

So, if you’re so inclined, you can hear the same descending harmonic pattern in the bridge of ‘Body Paint’ (“I’m watching your every move”) as the one that’s in the verse of ‘Cry Baby Cry’ (“The king of Marigold”). Maybe you think the chord progression in the verse is eerily similar to ‘Sexy Sadie’ – especially in the I-VII-iii movement that both verses start with. Or maybe you think the crescendo of strings bears more than a passing resemblance to the same swell that happens in ‘A Day in the Life’.

Of course, Arctic Monkeys have their own history to be concerned with. ‘Body Paint’ and their previous single, ‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’, align with the sound that the group adopted in earnest on their previous album, 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino. Psychedelic pop and vintage instrumentation belong just as much to Arctic Monkeys now as any group, historic or otherwise, and ‘Body Paint’ certainly seems like as much a continuation of the band’s previous work as it does a rip-off of somebody else’s.

Whether audiences are on board or not is a different question. Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino polarised fans and critics alike, but now that it’s clear that the band are doubling down on their stylistic shift, the first two single from The Car have gotten comparatively glowing reviews. We live in the age where Beatles songs aren’t relics from the past: you can dial up ‘She’s Leaving Home’ right now on Spotify or YouTube. The past isn’t quite the past in the way that it used to be, so it’s free reign for artists to channel the sounds of now-centuries old music and mould them into their own form.

In other words, it’s the perfect time to be “Beatlesque”, and while they might have hinted at it during previous songs, Arctic Monkeys have decided to dive head first into the deep end of “Beatlesque” music on ‘Body Paint’. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing is for you to decide, but there’s no hiding from it now. Those descending chords and stirring strings could have come from anywhere, but for the average music listener, it will sound like it came from one very specific band.

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