![]() ![]() Even more bizarrely, it’s the recipe for their continued success. These tunes would seem strange if not for the fact that being wilfully weird has always been alt-J’s brand. ![]() Recapturing some of the tongue-in-cheek swagger of ‘Left Hand Free’, the band are clearly having a ball on this sleazy slice o’ crypto-soul as they purr ‘ Gimme that gold / gimme that FIYAHHH!' A satirical take on the cryptocurrency boom, it’s “about a 15-year-old boy who becomes a millionaire overnight,” explains Gus. The chugging ‘Hard Drive Gold’ is even sillier. Transforming a conflicted relationship with caffeinated soft drink into a brooding, cinematic sprawler that quotes Jesus’ crucifixion? How very alt-J. The track samples the distinctive hiss of a can snapping open and behind poured as Joe sings of swimming in a pool of ‘ ice cold black fuel’. Musically, it’s all dark and serious, however - here’s the kicker - it’s actually about Joe’s love-hate addiction to “drinking sweet, sweety fizzy Cola,” as bandmate and multi-instrumentalist Gus Unger-Hamilton tells triple j. ‘Bane’ is an ever-mutating beast that builds from dusty guitar to vintage-prog-rock-meets-trip-hop augmented by heavenly choral chants. Serpentine-voiced frontman Joe Newman has also stepped up his lyrics by tapping into more timeless themes - romance, death, longing, grief - with a newfound sense of warmth and humanity that belies stereotypes of the band being style over substance.īut for all the subtle changes that have happened in five years, The Dream opens with a terrific reminder of what alt-J brings to the table. ![]() At its worst, it could be mistaken for cheesy dad rock bordering on AOR (ask your grandparents), but The Dream is still far more sonically adventurous than it’s (just gonna say it) terribly bland album title and even-less inspiring artwork might suggest. They’re in their 30s, and two of the three members have become dads since their last album.Ĭonsciously or not, the result means that The Dream is a slower and more restrained, sometimes even a sleepy listen. But alt-J are clearly no longer Leeds University students mucking around on laptops, crafting nerdy, nervous anthems about triangles and pinning down captors with breezeblocks. It’s a cliche to say most bands mellow out after a decade together, aging gracefully after establishing a fanbase over several albums. But simultaneously, it’s a different form of alt-J that emerges across its 50min runtime. They tinker with even more specific genres - blues, folk, psych-rock, even barbershop quartet! - but still sound like nobody but themselves.Ĭoming a half-decade after Relaxer - an album the UK trio have since admitted was “rushed” - it’s also somewhat of a return-to-form. The Dream - this week’s Feature Album - tackles cryptocurrency, COVID, cocaine and (multiple) murders in alt-J’s characteristically fruity style. ![]() Alt-J’s fourth album takes more patience than previous albums but offers new kinds of weirdness and depth. ![]()
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