Think The XX crossed with Bombay Bicycle Club. Think ‘folk-step’. Think the alternative niche in an already alternative genre. Alt-J are anything but predictable. Their debut album An Awesome Wave swoons through acoustics and echoing vocals; it is at once light, airy, heavy and brooding.
The opener ‘Intro’ demonstrates the variety of the album. A prolonged instrumental gives way to Joe Newman’s distinctive, dramatic vocals. Lyrically, there are hints to the quirky, alternative sound the band has developed. Refusing to show their faces during the band’s early stages, they reject the expected and embrace the alternative.
Alt-J is the shortcut for a delta sign on Mac. Triangles are Newman’s “favourite shape” – they are also the symbol for change. The band does not fit into any one genre; they represent something entirely new (‘folk-step”’they call it). Lyrics like “til morning comes, let’s tessellate” indicate a sense of carelessness. Hinting towards their disdain for the ordinary, it is this attitude that shows hope for Alt-J.
An Awesome Wave is a consistently good album. That’s not to say there are no standout songs: for me ‘Breezeblocks’ and ‘Dissolve Me’ are excellent (the album has some of the most imaginative track names).
The only disappointment comes in the closing track: ‘Taro’ simply fades out, lacking impact where the rest of the album hits you with heavy bass breaks, contrasting the fragility of Newman’s voice and frequent acoustic interludes with XX-like rhythm and keyboards.
Trying to pin Alt-J to a certain genre or even compare them to a few established bands is a pretty useless exercise. An Awesome Wave is a tide of musical innovation. Alt-J is alternative but accessible. It’s hard to say what kind of impact the band will have, but so far their popularity is growing quickly. It’s now a case of waiting to see how big of a splash An Awesome Wave makes.