This Is All Yours by alt-J

This Is All Yours is the most haunting thing you'll hear all year. In traditional alt-J style, their
second full length album boasts the unusual and the ethereal and it will stick with you for a long time to come. Their 2012 debut, An Awesome Wave, breathed a fresh wave of life into the lungs of NME lovers everywhere and over the past two years their fanbase has expanded and as this newest offering shows, so has their sound.

Never ones to shy away from an experiment, alt-J open with Intro which has enough reverb in it's bass to make the ground shake. But not in a drum and bass style way. It's oddly soft and eases gently into the rest of the album. Not too far in we reach Left Hand Free which has been previously released and it still takes you back to a time you didn't live in. It doesn't feel like a classic alt-J song but it's full of groove and funk. From there, it's not long until Hunger of the Pine is found. Unfortunately, I've never been a fan of the single and even on the album, it's still not great. Fair play to the quartet for going where not many dare, Miley Cyrus' musical catalogue, but I've concluded it is Marmite and definitely not the best song here. The album quickly returns to heights higher than London Bridge's Shard (yeah, dodgy analogy I know): The Gospel of John Hurt is incredible and eventually Bloodflood Pt. II kicks in. Bloodflood, from alt-J's first album, is one of my favourite songs so I was instantly excited seeing this title and it does not disappoint. As a whole, the album fills it's listener with calm and peace, it's almost transcendent: it takes you to another place. I've never known a band to do that through a speaker alone which puts alt-J on a unique pedestal.

At 55 minutes long this album had potential to bore and become a niche purchase but it doesn't and that is why it's clear that This Is All Yours is pure magic. Joe Newman's voice still electrifies and haunts whilst Gus, Gwill and Thom's many talents with instruments leaves hairs you didn't even know existed stood on end. If you haven't listened to alt-J before, it's time to leave the box your sat in and listen to something new. You won't regret it. This album is an awesome wave all of it's own.

8/10

Listen to: Warm Foothills

'This Is All Yours' is available to buy now.