alt-J – The Dream
welcome folks! this week we’re reaching the current end of our alt-J discography review with their 2020 record, The Dream!
Bane is an extremely neat opener – love the guitar here in the intro, and the moody build with the choir behind it too. there’s a lotta cool stuff happening with this track, and it’s definitely one of the more emotional tracks ive heard about drinking soda. U&ME was the lead single off the record – this is a nice track with a really excellent psychadelic break that kicks ass. Hard Drive Gold is a very very fun track – interesting take on crypto kids, haha. I’m Happier When You’re Gone is v tragic, and quiet a good track. i suspect this one will stick in my brain and rattle around for a bit, but for now it’s just p good for me. The Actor’s also p good. v enjoyable. Get Better is much more directly and intimately tragic – a soft and mellower quiet end. Chicago is a very interesting tonal shift after that. weird song, and i mean that positively. Philadelphia is weirder in a way i’m less certain about. the chorus kicks ass here, but the rest of it i’m much less a fan of. Walk a Mile is fine. Delta is an extremely funny transitional track, given that it uses the river definition of delta. i dont think ive mentioned it before, somehow, but the band’s descriptive name, alt-J, is short for the keyboard shortcut for generating the delta symbol, Δ. v funny to make it about a river. Losing My Mind is a darker track as we approach the end of the record. not a ton to say about this one. Powders is a very pleasant closer.
faves – U&ME, Get Better
dislikes –
this feels like an interesting shift after RELAXER – they’re continuing their stylistic experimentation, trying out and bringing in a bunch of different influences. i can also feel the work done here to thematically kinda line things up (lotta songs about death and grieving)! i just think the spaces they’re combining things and bringing in things just doesn’t quite sit as well with me. i absolutely can see how someone could connect very well with a bunch of these tracks, but a lot of it just passes over me very pleasantly.
The Dream – 5/10
first: An Awesome Wave | previous: RELAXER | next: who knows!
as a reminder, i’m gonna use the next week’s discography review slot to cover a KGLW record i missed, Changes, but i’ll be selecting a new discography to go over then. if you have any suggestions, please let me know below!
have a suggestion for a discography for me to review? let me know!
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