I have this to say about the Leeds, UK band Alt-J. Don’t let their debut album An Awesome Wave slip beneath your musical radar for lack of familiarity. You may have heard Alt-J’s totally (but still amazing) out of the box track, “Breezeblocks,” yet this track is only a fragment of a much larger, and conceptually complex puzzle.
Stream the entire album here at www.altjband.com. Available at Amazon and iTunes
Alt – J has so many wonderful things going on it may be difficult to put their sound into words, I’ll do my best. First, there is the unique vocals of lead singer Joe Newman, think one part hip-hop with swirls of some Romanesque bard thrown in for good measure. The music can range from the ardently, and deceptively folkish, to the bubbly sonic shock of punk fornicating with wild abandon with electro. It’s rife with so many genre flourishes and stops, starts and in-betweens. But it is exactly this which makes the band so much fun. Alt-J is simply a wondrous amalgamation of sounds; synths, guitars, and highly imaginative syncopation galore, enough to propel your backbone slipping beyond the furthest reaches of outer space. Yet, the songwriting is tight, imaginative But there is also tender songs of introspection perfect for moments of solemnness. Listen to “Tesselate,” “Matilda,” “Ms.,” and the haunting sweetness of the track, “Bloodflood”. The latter song is like being kissed by countless scalpels and held tight by a million sutures afterwards. And then there is the hidden track, “Hand Made,” I’ll let you discover it on your own.
With the song “Breezelocks” you get a sense of the mysterious and slightly menacing, like a runaway freight train caroming off the tracks. But without a doubt it is so goddamn groovy! And although the song is filled with rolling fog and brilliant day-glo colors, it has just a bit of Nitrous oxide to keep it light, woozy and likeable. In short, it makes for fun and interesting listening. Peace.