Albums to watch

This Is All Yours

Alt-J

This Is All Yours

Follow-up to their Mercury Prize-winning debut An Awesome Wave from the Leeds art rock trio

ADM rating[?]

7.1

Label
Infectious Music
UK Release date
22/09/2014
US Release date
22/09/2014
  1. 10.0 |   Evening Standard

    Alt-J’s expansive songwriting incorporates plangent folk, glitchy electronica and experimental rock, alongside hypnotic vocals from Joe Newman and Gus Unger-Hamilton
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  2. 9.0 |   Digital Spy

    If we hadn't realised how special alt-J were after their first album, this one makes it damn obvious
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  3. 9.0 |   Sputnik Music (staff)

    It may not be what fans of An Awesome Wave had originally wanted, but thank God it isn't. This Is All Yours is an album lost within itself, in the best way possible
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  4. 8.5 |   Under The Radar

    This is a band that does everything with the utmost precision, every minuscule part of massive importance to the end result
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  5. 8.0 |   The 405

    A successful blend of sardonic and mystical, and will most likely win them a stream of new fans
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  6. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    Minus departed bassist Gwil Sainsbury, their second album exhibits the playful adventure Radiohead didn’t exhibit until their fourth, Kid A
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  7. 8.0 |   NME

    Engulfs you like a deep forest. Alt-J Mk II, then: an impressive expansion, with hugely improved connectivity
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  8. 8.0 |   DIY

    Behind every batshit idea is a wealth of beauty, and given this was the vital appeal of ‘An Awesome Wave’, Alt-J have struck gold second time round
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  9. 8.0 |   Q

    This sumptuous riddle of a record is a celebration of everything but normality. Print edition only

  10. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Spooked neo-R&B, head-nodding sonic collages and, most effective of all, spectral balladry. Print edition only

  11. 8.0 |   FasterLouder

    The constant shifting inventiveness means that even when they try something that ends up sounding silly, it’s never boring
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  12. 8.0 |   The Arts Desk

    For conceptual brilliance, alt-J are hard to match
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  13. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    You’ll be pushed to hear a more peculiarly diverse album this year
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  14. 8.0 |   All Music

    It gets under your skin, where it somehow manages to both hurt and heal
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  15. 8.0 |   Rolling Stone

    These guys know that alienation works best when it's a little bit fun
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  16. 8.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    A collection of poised folktronica that is all the making of this band, with dabs of hip-hop, dustbin lid drums, the odd yodel and the group’s trademark a capella vocals
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  17. 7.9 |   Paste Magazine

    There is a deeply embedded sense of travel in that certain melodies or musical sounds will never repeat, thus the arrangements feel exploratory or impulsive
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  18. 7.5 |   Earbuddy

    The bottom line is this: if you were won over by An Awesome Wave, this record is a decent follow-up. If you thought alt-J stole the Mercury Prize like so many bandits under the cover of night, well, This Is All Yours will just confirm your suspicions
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  19. 7.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Keeps one foot firmly rooted in the endearing quagmire of melodic prog that defined their 2012 debut, An Awesome Wave, while at the same time constructing songs with a baroque precision
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  20. 7.0 |   Beardfood

    It's beautiful sounding, original and free, but not without flaws
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  21. 7.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    A respectable follow-up to an acclaimed debut that raised the bar for alternative music
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  22. 7.0 |   musicOMH

    A worthy and accomplished follow-up from Alt-J, one that confirms they will not be lost to the Mercury Prize archives
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  23. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    With the success of first record, An Awesome Wave—a weird and impressive collection of trippy, modern-baroque pop songs—Alt-J finds itself in the unique and liminal confines of a band now expected to do certain things
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  24. 6.7 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Newman’s cadance on these songs pours naturally over the modified percussion sounds and steadily rising and receding synthesizer moans
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  25. 6.0 |   The FT

    The music is calmer and less mannered than on An Awesome Wave, with fewer busy time signatures and more space to breathe
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  26. 6.0 |   Clash

    From exhaustive touring, perhaps alt-J became so tired of their debut that they tried to write away from it, thus departing the schizophrenic unpredictability of ‘An Awesome Wave’, a quality this record quite drearily lacks.
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  27. 6.0 |   The Skinny

    Barely faltering, there's more at play here than yet another 'indie' record seeking acceptance through gimmicky hook
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  28. 5.8 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    Erraticism aside, there’s just enough behind this undeniably sundry record to make it work
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  29. 5.5 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    There is the preponderance of piano and the trembling of little alien sounding strings, a distinct lack of percussion or a glitchy, stuttering, seemingly intractable spine which would be impossible to remove unless one wants to listen to a quivering, opalescent jellyfish
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  30. 5.0 |   Uncut

    It lacks the debut’s punchiness and a compelling thread to bind those disparate elements. Print edition only

  31. 4.0 |   Pitchfork

    Really dull and tuneless — a frustrating development for those who still believe in alt-rock as an incubator for unfashionable and undeniably great bands
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  32. 4.0 |   Time Out

    After such promising beginnings, Alt-J are going to have to do a bit more than this if they want to keep their disciples faithful
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  33. 4.0 |   God Is In The TV

    It’s not a bad record, it’s just deeply, deeply average
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Alt-J: This Is All Yours

  • Download full album for just £9.49
  • 1. Intro £0.99
  • 2. Arrival in Nara £0.99
  • 3. Nara £0.99
  • 4. Every Other Freckle £0.99
  • 5. Left Hand Free £0.99
  • 6. Garden Of England – Interlude £0.99
  • 7. Choice Kingdom £0.99
  • 8. Hunger Of The Pine £0.99
  • 9. Warm Foothills £0.99
  • 10. The Gospel of John Hurt £0.99
  • 11. Pusher £0.99
  • 12. Bloodflood pt.II £0.99
  • 13. Leaving Nara £0.99
  • 14. Lovely Day (Bonus Track) £0.99
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