alt-j - The Dream

As befitting their out-of-step status, alt-J’s career up to now has been one of dichotomy.

For every ‘cool’ accolade (Mercury Prize) there is an equally ‘uncool’ barb (working with Miley Cyrus), and the ubiquity of ‘Left Hand Free’ on both acclaimed Netflix content and Marvel movies best exemplifies this.

It’s an approach that has served them well over the last decade, and indeed applies to their work itself. Fourth album The Dream covers, in no particular order, the insights of a serial killer, heart-rendering recollections of a life partner and the joys of capitalism. Whatever else you can say about them, predictable alt-J are not.

Opening with the latter, ‘Bane’ is – as drummer Thom Sonny Green attests – the sonic palate of the album in microcosm. Delicate electric finger-plucked guitar, shimmering vocals, trip-hop…it’s all here. A familiar trope of the band’s, obtuse lyrics as metaphor, is once again prominent amid the thoughtful chaos which is essentially an ode to Coca-Cola.

As righteous music fans we should perhaps balk at this, but ultimately who doesn’t enjoy a glass or two? Singer Joe Newman is well aware of this, as the opening lyrics (‘I sold my soul’) prove. The song itself is a treat, unfurling surprises at every turn which suggest that even the band don’t know where it’s going, but it’s worth following regardless.

https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/02/album-review-alt-j-the-dream/