alt-J – This Is All Yours
welcome folks! this week we’re continuing our look at alt-J – after the success of their first record, they embarked on a tour, wrote more music, and returned in 2014 with This Is All Yours. let’s check it out!
the Intro here is a very full track – a very nice way to slowly enter into the space of the record. the back half of the song, after the vocal break, where the guitar comes in, is probs my fave part of the track. Arrival In Nara is very pleasant, especially considering that it’s a song about drowning. Nara is a very nice song – i dig it. i REALLY like Every Other Freckle – truly a phenomenal track. in reading about this record, i read that the band didn’t really want to write Left Hand Free, that the label pressured them to write something that would chart. and yknow. these guys could write catchy hits if they wanted to, this slaps. only one Interlude on this record, titled Garden of England – short and simple. Choice Kingdom doesn’t do a ton for me. Hunger of the Pine was the track i recognized by name off this record. this song was the first written after the departure of founding member and bassist Gwil Sainsbury – it’s p good! Warm Foothills does some interesting stuff with the way they play with their vocal track. The Gospel of John Hurt is a very fun song, conceptually. it might make it onto a favorites list for me in the future, but the slow start hurts a bit in my view. Pusher is a strange little track – lyric heavy and instrumentation light, haha. i have talked a lot about sequel songs that have no prequels, so it’s very funny to finally find a proper sequel track where the prior song isn’t on the same record in Bloodflood Pt II. really enjoy the keyboard on this one, the track does some very fun stuff. Leaving Nara closes out both the regular track list and the Nara cycle of tracks. nice! the hidden track off this record is a cover of Lovely Day by Bill Withers – i think they do a good job bringing something new to the track, i dig this one a lot as a lil bonus!
faves – Every Other Freckle, Left Hand Free, Lovely Day
dislikes –
this record was pretty good – i don’t think i found as much here that really worked for me as i did in An Awesome Wave. i unfortunately feel like i don’t have a ton to say about it generally, as the instrumentation was nice but frequently just kinda washed over me pleasantly. i’m not any less excited to hear more music from them though, as what worked here really worked for me.
This Is All Yours – 6/10
previous is the beginning: An Awesome Wave | next: RELAXER
have a suggestion for a discography for me to review? let me know!
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