Alt-J - This Is All Yours
This Is All Yours
Alt-J
Tiger Rating: 8.0 / 10
Experimental Indie
Perhaps not since Animal Collective's "Merriweather Post Pavillion" has any left-field indie album received such broad acclaim as Alt-J's debut "An Awesome Wave". If the acclaim for their first offering was broad, the pressure for their sophomore has been intense. With the Mercury Prize under the belts and their bassist gone and replaced, not only has the pressure been from without, but maybe more so from within the band. Already reviews are split, with many critics citing a general lack of focus and a greedy, miscalculated reach for inspiration, rendering the album messy and contrived.
Though the album cover depicts a playful, colourful mess, "This Is All Yours" is a dark, at times sultry affair. If lead single 'Hunger of the Pine' was anything to go by, not even Miley Cyrus' female rebellion could stop it from sounding like a Bon Iver cast off. Not that its a bad track. And certainly in context of the album it makes a lot of sense. The vibe here, complete with Arabic lyrics and the occasional Eastern string section (probably the product of computer wizardry), is one of a journey by night through North Africa maybe. Though 'Arrival in Nara', 'Nara' and 'Leaving Nara' allude to a journey through a Japanese city, at no point are you entirely sure where you are or where you are going. What some critics would dismiss as a lack of focus actually can only be careful calculations on the band's part. This is an intelligent, careful band, born of sneaking around the hallways of an English University, making haunting music in the dark of the night. Only 'Warm Foothills' sounds like a morning song. It's subtle, warm with its string sections and sees Newman ruminating and reflecting on his journey so far. 'Left Hand Free' - set to be the next single - is one of the missteps on the album. It's bluesy and contrived. 'Garden of England' is blatant, boring filler. At 1:08 you don't mind so much, except that with the predecessor album, no track was wasted and every piece fit. 'Bloodflood II' is the gloomy pinnacle of the album. It ventures into a hazy opium dub before building to a soft horn section which heralds the early morning sun once again, in what turns into a soaring outro. 'Leaving Nara' is more of their monk-like chants over trip-hop beats and echoed minor keys. It's yet another of the superfluous tracks imo.
"This Is All Yours" is definitely a journey to a less familiar place. If the band were fresh and bright eyed on "An Awesome Wave", then they have lost some of their vigor and strange sparkle. It's not an atrocious record, it may just not have been the one we hoped for. Their languid cover of Bill Wither's 'Lovely Day' lurks at the end of a 13 minute silence as the album's hidden track. Perhaps if that had been included on the album in place of one of the other tracks it would have made for a more indulgent record. It's not the worst sophomore album, and I fully expect it to grow on me until I can't stand it anymore, but for now "An Awesome Wave" remains their better offering. Imo.
WVS
Though the album cover depicts a playful, colourful mess, "This Is All Yours" is a dark, at times sultry affair. If lead single 'Hunger of the Pine' was anything to go by, not even Miley Cyrus' female rebellion could stop it from sounding like a Bon Iver cast off. Not that its a bad track. And certainly in context of the album it makes a lot of sense. The vibe here, complete with Arabic lyrics and the occasional Eastern string section (probably the product of computer wizardry), is one of a journey by night through North Africa maybe. Though 'Arrival in Nara', 'Nara' and 'Leaving Nara' allude to a journey through a Japanese city, at no point are you entirely sure where you are or where you are going. What some critics would dismiss as a lack of focus actually can only be careful calculations on the band's part. This is an intelligent, careful band, born of sneaking around the hallways of an English University, making haunting music in the dark of the night. Only 'Warm Foothills' sounds like a morning song. It's subtle, warm with its string sections and sees Newman ruminating and reflecting on his journey so far. 'Left Hand Free' - set to be the next single - is one of the missteps on the album. It's bluesy and contrived. 'Garden of England' is blatant, boring filler. At 1:08 you don't mind so much, except that with the predecessor album, no track was wasted and every piece fit. 'Bloodflood II' is the gloomy pinnacle of the album. It ventures into a hazy opium dub before building to a soft horn section which heralds the early morning sun once again, in what turns into a soaring outro. 'Leaving Nara' is more of their monk-like chants over trip-hop beats and echoed minor keys. It's yet another of the superfluous tracks imo.
"This Is All Yours" is definitely a journey to a less familiar place. If the band were fresh and bright eyed on "An Awesome Wave", then they have lost some of their vigor and strange sparkle. It's not an atrocious record, it may just not have been the one we hoped for. Their languid cover of Bill Wither's 'Lovely Day' lurks at the end of a 13 minute silence as the album's hidden track. Perhaps if that had been included on the album in place of one of the other tracks it would have made for a more indulgent record. It's not the worst sophomore album, and I fully expect it to grow on me until I can't stand it anymore, but for now "An Awesome Wave" remains their better offering. Imo.
WVS
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