15

15. An Awesome Wave - alt-J (2012)

Alternative Pop

From the very onset of the lush immersive intro, alt-J seem keen to establish themselves lightyears outside the bounds of conventional pop. Then there’s “Interlude One” aka “Ripe & Ruin”, a hyper-quirky, operatic, acapella oddball that definitively erases any doubts that the Leeds-based group had any intention of falling in line or rehashing old ideas. So now we’re ostensibly two intros in before we arrive at the first meaty bite of An Awesome Wave, “Tessellate”, the opening piano chords of which feel like an ominous reanimation of some ancient mythological creature. The track muses over triangles, which are also interpreted as delta symbols that represent change, and which on a Mac are achieved through the keyboard shortcut “alt-J’. Layers upon layers of meaning beneath hidden meaning. The ambition is awe-inspiring. Incidentally, album artwork for An Awesome Wave is a depiction of the Ganges River delta in Bangladesh as seen from space - another winking representation of the “delta” concept the band themselves represent.

Vocalist Joe Newman’s delivery is so unabashedly weird that the listener ends up feeling like Mowgli in The Jungle Book as he’s helplessly entranced in the snake Kaa’s hypnotizing gaze. At times feeling jarringly staccatoed, possessed with the fervor of faith healer or a snake oil salesman, and other times so buttery smooth that you’re helplessly enveloped in the womb his voice fashions. It remains nearly unbelievable that a group so obviously unconcerned with partaking in any aspect of the mainstream ended up smack dab in the middle of it. Even “Breezeblocks”, the most successful single and most recognizable alt-J track to date, is completely out of left field, as it twitches and thumps its way into the roaring rapids of the chorus and bridge, echoing the heartfelt refrain “please don’t go, I love you so, I love you so” while also slipping in an unnerving promise to “eat you whole”. So strange, so novel, so gorgeous. The persisting success of An Awesome Wave is one of the most heartening stories of the past decade of music. 

*image; cover art for the album An Awesome Wave by alt-J