Engrosses you in a way that other music just can’t.

How could Alt-J follow up a debut album as undeniably genre-bending and breaking as, ‘An Awesome Wave’? It was an album that earned them the somewhat coveted Barclaycard Mercury Prize and catapulted them to the headline slot on Reading and Leed’s cavernous NME/Radio 1 stage last summer. With Alexandra Palace sold out and London’s 02 Arena on sale, no one really knew what to expect next in the unprecedented rise of Alt-J.

‘This Is All Yours’ proves that Alt-J were not being weird for weird’s sake. They were using music as an art form like no one else, and they’re going to continue to push the boundary of the veritable blue sky. The opening track, ‘Intro’, opens with a cacophony of monosyllabic intonations and morphs into a powerful sitar based crescendo. This transformation embodies Alt-J’s transition; they are still very much the same band, but it’s not simply a continuation of their debut.

There are parts of the album that sound deeply romantic, such as ‘Arrival In Nara’ and ‘Pusher’, and other times when it becomes far more bizarrely erotic, in a way only Alt-J can be; with a low stinging bass line, hypnotic harmonies and lyrics like, ‘turn you inside out and lick you like a crisp packet’. As unorthodox as it is, it is extremely effective. With their extensive instrumentation, Alt-J produce a highly tactile sound that engrosses you in a way that other music just can’t. Use of the classic primary school DJ keyboard samples again on ‘The Gospel Of John Hurt’, as well as other charming minutiae remind you that they’re just being extremely resourceful, as opposed to being intentionally obtuse.

‘This Is All Yours’ is an album that rewards a truly engaged listener; one that is willing to pick up on the beautiful, ingenious subtleties of what Alt-J have produced. That engagement is so fulfilling and wholly worth it.