Review: Alt-J - This Is All Yours
By Xavier Veccia, Managing Editor
[Infectious; 2014]
Rating: 8.5/10
Key Tracks: “Nara,” “Left Hand Free,” “Hunger of the Pine”
Music is a constantly changing landscape. The music industry we know today may not be the same next year, next month or even next week. In order to survive, artists must evolve with the landscape. However, only the strongest of these organisms will survive. In order to do this, one can’t just change with the industry, but must be the one who changes it in the first place.
In 2012, alt-J was the change. Its infectious, experimental indie rock album An Awesome Wave earned the band praise, awards and a following spread across the globe. There are still bands trying to catch up to the English outfit, but no one could quite match the charismatic voice of lead singer Joe Newman or the versatility of alt-J’s sound.
That was two years ago, though. In a post-Awesome Wave 2014, alt-J couldn’t release the same sound and expect to get away with it. So it changed the landscape again.
On This Is All Yours, alt-J returns with many of the musical themes present on An Awesome Wave, whether that be strange sexual metaphors (“I want to be every lever you pull”) or cinematic references (the ode to Alien, “The Gospel of John Hurt.”) The trio also brings new tricks to the table such as new loves for medieval folk and Miley Cyrus.
However, where This Is All Yours excels is in its main “Nara” story arc. This begins in the acoustic guitar and piano driven “Arrival in Nara,” in which Newman sings of a drowning girl he sees in Japan. “In a blink and in one motion / Rope constricts / Rips her towards the ocean,” Newman sings in a surprisingly tender timbre. But before she drowns, Newman can, “hear her smile as she sings.”
“Nara” follows afterward and proves to be one of, if not the most, touching alt-J song to date. The song is about a man wishing to marry his one true love, but cannot due to the fact that his love is a man as well. The song features some amazingingly poignant lyrics such as, “In my youth the greatest tide washed up my prize / You,” and “Love is a pharaoh and he’s boning me.”
The arc, along with the album, culminates in the drum and synth heavy “Leaving Nara” which references much of “Nara.” The song may not be much lyrically, but musically it is the perfect final installment for the three act “Nara” masterpiece.
Don’t let the “Nara” story arc fool you into thinking alt-J left their festival-friendly side on An Awesome Wave, though. There are plenty of exhilarating tracks littered throughout the album. There’s the sexy “Every Other Freckle,” which features a medieval breakdown halfway through. “Hunger Of The Pine” samples Miley Cyrus’ “4x4” to create a sick hip-hop atmosphere.
“Warm Foothills” includes vocals from the likes of Conor Oberst and Lianne La Havas to form a song certain to be in a handful of indie rom-coms. And of course you can’t forget the absolutely rockin’ “Left Hand Free” that proves alt-J could really exist in just about any decade and still be amazing.
This Is All Yours doesn’t serve only as proof that alt-J is capable of more than just one fantastic album, but also reminds us all that the band doesn’t just survive, it thrives.
