Music Review: alt-J This Is All Yours
Tighe Gugerty
alt-J, an English experimental indie rock band that formed in 2007, is relatively new to me as a music listener. I was introduced to them roughly a year ago and they were slightly perplexing to me. I haven't completely listened to their debut album, An Awesome Wave, but the two songs that stood out in particular to me were polarizing. “Breezeblocks”, one of their singles of the album, sounds almost like an incoherent, mumbled rap with heavy rock drums, piano, and what sounds to be a children's xylophone. While another single that caught my eye of the album, “Something Good”, a sweeping epic of piano and marching drum sound, seemed to be juxtaposed against the aforementioned song. Fast forward two years, on September 23rd, alt-J is set to release their sophomore album, This Is All Yours. Like the last album, it begins with a song titled “Intro”, which gives a preview of things to come. It starts with an acapella melody and seamlessly transitions to robotic singing and a drum beat that is top offed with a celtic vibe. Next is “Arrival in Nara”, which is a simple song with softly played piano accompanied by guitar plucking. “Nara”, the preceding song, sounds like a little bit of a heavier version of the previous song but with some deep, almost dubstep like, synthesizer added to it. After this the album begins to pick up speed with “Every Other Freckle” which features heavier electronic influences and some kind of pipe sounding instrument. Once at the song “Left Hand Free”, the album has picked up considerable speed and heaviness. On this track, the band takes a more bluesy rock sound that is a departure from anything they have done before and is reminiscent of the Black Keys. After that the album drops off into “Garden of England- Interlude” which is filled with sounds of nature and panpipes. “Choice Kingdom” offers up a slower pace, but a trippy sound. “Hunger of the Pine” brings the tempo up a little with an orchestral sound and a R&B sounding sample. Then the album shifts down once again to “Warm Foothills”, which sounds like a cute love song that the lead singer and a female vocalists take turns singing on. “The Ballad of John Hurt” gives what would seem to be a generic alt-J song, it doesn't particularly stand out from the others. “Pusher “ gives off a slow, acoustic jam session vibe followed by “Bloodflood pt. II” which combines piano, electronic, and brass elements. The album is closed by “Leaving Nara”, which combines many of the elements from throughout the album much like the intro. Overall I was pretty satisfied as the album as a whole entity, I thought that the build up to “Left Hand Free” was satisfying but I wished that alt-J had delved a little more into songs like that. It was the highlight of the album for me and I would enjoy if they could crank out more songs similar to it in the future. The other more typical alt-J sounding songs expand upon their unique sound and surpass those of the first album. With that being said, it was a let down that the second half of the album could not pick up the steam of the first. Do not think that the second half the the weaker side, for it has some excellent tunes, but if they could have tried some more songs in their new territory that would have been excellent.
Wrap Up: alt-J’s new album delivers a solid sound throughout, but the second half is a bit slower than the first.
Highlights: “Left Hand Free”, “Pusher”, “Every Other Freckle”
Lowlights: None- may be revised
Score: 8.7/10
Release: Sept 23, 2014 Listen now on iTunes for free
