Which is all to say, Alt-J got really, really defensive about their indie cred upon creating something that could potentially steer them toward wider acceptance. The song in question (that, I should note, they have no one but themselves to blame for) is Left Hand Free, an admittedly tossed off song that Alt-J whipped up in an attempt to appease Atlantic Records. It got a mixed response from their fan base, which prompted the disparaging comments (comments they would later backpedal on, presumably once they saw the dollar signs).
The thing is, listening to This Is All Yours, one can completely understand where the label was coming from. As the follow-up to the genuinely exciting and boundlessly creative An Awesome Wave, album two is predominantly a dull, lethargic affair; after a 4½-minute intro and the opening track in earnest that also acts as an intro to the next track, the first real signs of life are heard at about the nine minute mark. Nara sounds vibrant and lively, but that's only because it breaks the monotony of what preceded it.
Every Other Freckle is musically more indicative of the sound Alt-J is known for, but the lyrics are laughably cheesy and a little cringe-inducing ("gonna paw at you like a cat paws at my woolen jumper"). It makes you wonder, for all the shit they talked about Left Hand Free were they really so much more proud of this? Sure, the lyrics elsewhere aren't the highest form of poetry, but they don't give listeners the creeps the way this one does ("turn you inside out and lick you like a crisp packet"? Really?).
This Is All Yours does have its share of pleasant enough tracks; Hunger Of The Pine, even with its ill-advised Miley Cyrus sample, is interesting musically and has some sinister undertones that work to the song's favour. Warm Foothills starts off rather slow, but eventually finds a breezy Peter Gabriel-style groove. The Gospel Of John Hurt glides along on a soft melody before building up to a percussive, elastic crescendo.
The problem with This Is All Yours is that, more often than not, it doesn't rise above the level of background music. There's precious little that hits with the same force as, say, Tessellate or Fitzpleasure. There's also very few songs that approach the tempo of Something Good or Dissolve Me. And there's certainly nothing as groove heavy and effortlessly cool as Breezeblocks. There are a lot of slow, middling tracks that mostly fail to leave much of an impression regardless of how much pretentious orchestration they throw in.
To be sure, there are a lot of sounds at work on this album, and most of them seem designed to convey an idea of creative progression. Church bells, recorders, ominous background noises, organs, and all manner of percussion are used to further this impression, and it almost works in places. However, these theoretically interesting sounds are rarely accompanying interesting songs; these songs are tantamount to black and white pictures of clowns.
It's really a shame, considering just how rewarding An Awesome Wave was; most of This Is All Yours is bogged down under sluggish tempos and overthought musical ideas. Had Alt-J employed the same carefree attitude that makes Left Hand Free the album's clear highlight and not thrown so much of their focus into what they thought the taste makers wanted them to do (in a shocking twist, Pitchfork scored it 4/10), maybe I'd be able to speak about This Is All Yours with a bit more enthusiasm. As it stands, I suspect it's more likely to end up on relaxation playlists than year end top ten lists. But hey, as long as those lousy mouth breathers stay away, am I right?
September 23, 2014 • Infectious/Atlantic
Highlights Left Hand Free • Hunger of the Pine • Warm Foothills
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