Lead singer Alex Turner and Arctic Monkeys perform during the All Points West music festival at Liberty State Park Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009 in Jersey City, N.J. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jason DeCrow

TORONTO - Even on their brooding, prickly third album, "Humbug," the Arctic Monkeys haven't lost their sense of humour.

If the band's steps towards maturity weren't evident in the album's obfuscated lyrics or the grimy heft of the music, drummer Matt Helders says they hinted at their direction in the album's title, which refers to a hard mint candy popular in the band's native England.

"We were kind of describing the first two records as gummy bears - a chewy sweet, and as soon as you've put it in your mouth you know what you've got," Helders told The Canadian Press over the phone from New York. "But a humbug, you suck it for a bit, and only at the end does it turn into a chewy sweet. "

"Of course, the word 'humbug,' it also means nonsense, or like a fraud, and we thought that was funny too."

In fact, "Humbug" finds the band moving further from the witty irreverence of their 2006 debut, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" - still the U.K.'s fastest-selling debut album ever - and toward material that seems weighty yet obscure (and rewards repeated listenings).

"On the first records, we were kind of straightforward, (with) quite instant lyrics," Helders said. "Everything was spelled out for you. Whereas this one, lyrically, leaves a bit more to the listener's imagination, I think. It's less mapped out. There's a bit more room for the imagination, I suppose."

First single "Crying Lightning" crackles with a nimble guitar riff, a fuzzy bassline and typically barbed lyrics from vocalist Alex Turner.

In fact, Turner remains at his acidic best here - "Secret Door" closes with the self-deprecating line, "fools on parade conduct a sing-along" - with the band kicking up a sludgy racket behind him, slowed down slightly from the more-frenetic guitar pop of their past.

Production on seven of the album's 10 tracks was handled by Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, and Helders says his influence is partially responsible for the stoner-metal influences that filter through.

"The guitarists in the band, he kind of pushed them a bit more to work out guitar solos and do interesting guitar parts without showing off," he said. "He kind of saw the potential and encouraged it a bit more than what we've had in the past."

The band trekked out to record at Homme's Joshua Tree studio in California's Mojave desert. At first, Helders says, the band was skeptical that the exotic surroundings would make much of a different on the album.

"We were kind of a bit cocky about it, we were thinking: 'Oh, how different could it be, it's only a desert?"' Helders recalled. "The closer we got, the more we realized we were in quite a different atmosphere from what we were used to."

It's been seven years since the band formed, and they've observed and endured a turbulent time in the music industry.

Yet while the Arctic Monkeys are young - at 24, bassist Nicholas O'Malley is the group's oldest member - the same band that once lamented that "there's only music so that there's new ringtones" doesn't feel particularly inclined to change with the times.

"You have to adapt to an extent, but we still try to keep all the certain traditions, like making a record as a whole record," Helders said. "When we make it as a record, we intend it to be a record. We even think of it as two sides. "There'll only be a small percentage of people who listen to it like that, but it's just worth it to us anyway."