Alt-J
This Is All Yours

LA RECENSIONE

Theoretically, beauty should be something extraordinarily subjective. It's a shame that in real life, the monotonous and practical one, the false and senseless one, the value of beauty is dictated and conveyed by other factors, and we can do nothing except submit to the sad objectivity of the masses. Unable to enjoy the beauty of a pure, happy and nonexistent life, we take refuge in vices and passions, music in this case:

Alt-J found the beauty of the world, of existence, perhaps by traveling to Nara, perhaps for some other reason... but let's not digress, the ? know the secret of beauty and convey it into music, to share it with us, assiduous seekers of music in every form and dimension.

The first album by Alt-J was that "almost-masterpiece" "An Awesome Wave", a delicate and bizarre pearl of avant-indie-pop. The English group, in their second work, does not abandon the musical formula adopted in the first, rather, it exacerbates it incredibly, creating a prodigious blend of different genres that, on one hand, is brilliantly original, but on the other hand, can prove to be cloying and tedious.

The strength of the group is, indeed, the variety of sounds and influences that are brought together making their music scandalously catchy, yet never banal or predictable. It is almost impossible not to be captivated by the dreamy, almost ethereal delicacy of jewels like "Arrival in Nara" and "Every Other Freckle," by the bucolic and exotic melodies of "Warm Foothills," by the electronic brushstrokes of "Hunger the Pine"; and knowing the group, it is impossible not to feel amazed while listening to "Left Hand Free," that somewhat quirky radio-friendly rock that could be played by any bland indie band.

Alt-J on a canvas sketch their idea of beauty. Sketches of delicate, intimate, whispered, electric, pastoral, dreamy, melodic, minimal beauty.

Because beauty is subjective. The most subjective thing in the world.

And it all depends on us.