Eerie English folk, trashy punk, and ritualistic rock . . . it's all on the English trio's brilliant third offering
Stranger than strange, alt-J continue to explore the esoteric outer limits on an album with a real misnomer of a title. More sinister than relaxing, the ominous English folk opener 3WW features eerie vocal interjections from Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice and sets the tone for a very perplexing set of songs.
It’s all very far from the kinetic folktronica (if you will) of their first two albums. Relaxer wears its experimental edges boldly on the likes of the almost shamanistic psycho-drama In Cold Blood, all jarring beats and stabbing horn section, and there's even an unearthly deconstruction of House of The Rising Sun.
Like Radiohead before them, alt-J command huge international audiences and big sales without registering too much in the mainstream and their sense of adventure sees art rock collide with folk and fractured beats mesh with vocal tics and opaque lyrics.
They also operate from a very broad palette - check out the guttural early punk of Hit Me Like That Snare or album stand-out Deadcrush, which sounds like a black mass presided over by The Bee Gees and the cast of The Wickerman. Yes, it’s really that good. As is every second of this dark masterpiece. ****
Alan Corr @corralan
