Alt J - This is All Yours

A not-in-the-slightest-expert analysis by Nimbi.

Warning: this review probably isn’t appropriate for anybody under the age of thirteen, or fifteen, or eighteen, I don’t know, just check yoself (please realistically analyze your mental age). And if you’re under the age of thirteen and reading this. Why. Go play some violent video games or something. This is Sad Moth for crying out loud, not some tween internet hang out spot.

Anyway.

Sex.

^There you have it. Alt J is perhaps the most sexual band around today, and I’m not just talking lyrics here, although those are definitely worth discussing. And you know what, maybe that’s why their second record, entitled This Is All Yours is so good. It’s musical sex.

Please don’t give up on this review quite yet; I swear there’s kind of a point to this.

 I went into this album with high hopes. I was a huge fan of their debut and all of the catchy singles that drove Alt J’s name to success. But upon listening to the new project, I wasn’t too thrilled at first.

The thing with a band as crazy cool as Alt J is, in our day and age, where it’s so hard to fit the ever-evolving definition of “original,” Alt J seems to be so interesting at times that it forgets to be musically coherent.

In the opening track called Intro, there was some really awesome stuff going on. I mean these guys are clinical, talented, and artistically gifted musicians. Its just, they seem to give up on motifs way too quickly. I find myself thinking if they just developed that, or I really liked that one part but…etc, etc…

Cohesiveness. That’s what I craved, a naturally soothing repetition that the aesthetics of music are based upon. And the first part of the album didn’t really do that for me.  Vocal layers and harmonies in the intro track were awesome, and although the Nara Trilogy (the next two tracks and the last one) was effectively haunting in its melodies, the songs felt like they were just creeping along at an unentertaining pace.

And then things started picking up in a very strange way with Every Other Freckle, where driven, swelling horns and neat builds really showcased Alt J’s knack for sensual rhythm; followed by whatever the hell was going on with the next poppy track called Left Hand Free:

Well, your left hand's free

And your right's in a grip

With another left hand

Watch his right hand slip

Towards his gun, oh, no

^So that’s kind of gross. Probably the most explicitly erotic part of the album lyrically speaking, but this is when I really started to notice how sexual Alt J is.

Choice Kingdom brought back some haunting themes with a pulsing, watery ambiance, and it was really from here on out that I began to really like the musical developments within each song.

The Gospel of John Hurt is the sexiest song on the record. It builds like an orgasm, speaks to innate impulses through its irrefutable rhythmic hypnosis and recurring motifs. When Alt J sticks to this kind of template is seems that they do well, something they demonstrate with the rest of the tracks, especially in the passionate builds on my favorite song off the album, Bloodflood pt. II (which is an extension off their first album). They drive and swell up to powerful climaxes upon which they…kind of shrivel out…there’s no other way of putting it. On this album, there aren’t really any strong endings to songs, but it fits the evident thematic package in my opinion. They even appease different musical appeals through the mellow acoustic hums of Pusher.

I really enjoyed this album in the end, as weird as some of my analysis was. It wasn’t nearly as single-driven as their first, but Alt J is definitely asserting themselves musically here with an imaginative sound and new age undercurrents. However, they definitely could’ve done more in the sense of organization. The record kind of drags on and risks blending songs. It’s sexy shit nonetheless.

So if you’re looking for something to get down to, This is All Yours really is, all yours. But remember kids, make good decisions.

Favorite Tracks: Bloodflood pt. II, Pusher

Least Favorite Tracks: Leaving Nara

8/10