Who are Alt-J and why is their influence so great? A biography of one indie rock band

Alt-J - an indie rock band formed in Leeds in. 2007. Despite this, their debut album wasn't released until . 2012... Record An Awesome Wave was able to get to 13th position UK Albums Chartand charted in Belgium, France and several other countries! As a result, it has won awards for Barclaycard Mercury Prize и Ivor Novello Awards! For the young band it was a good springboard to the Olympus of fame... What was to be expected, their second studio work, the album This Is All YoursThe band immediately became number one in the UK! In 2014 the bassist left the band Gwil Sainsburyand after that. Alt-J are positioning themselves as a trio. What was their path to success? And why are they a big influence in today's indie rock scene? About everything in order...

The beginning of the journey

In fact, the actual name of the band is just a triangular symbol (capitalised Greek letter delta)! According to the members Alt-J, the triangle is a visually appealing shape: perhaps that's why you'll find a lot of triangles in their work, both in their lyrics and in their live performances... You'll ask: but why, exactly? Alt-J? It's simple: the name comes from the key sequence used to create the character on an Apple Mac computer (Alt+ J). Remarkably, the group had tried several names before, including Daljit Dhaliwal и The Films! And most likely the participants would have settled on the latter option if it wasn't for an American band with the same name !

The history of this indie rock band dates back to the days of 2007: that's when Gwil Sainsbury, Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton и Tom Green met at the University of Leeds. As he later recounted Newmanhe only went there to "get the band together." Joe After graduating from university, the friends travelled to Cambridge, where they worked on their music for a few months before signing a contract with Infectious Music... So, in 2011 they released their first EP!

Breakthrough with An Awesome Wave!

Their debut album, titled. An Awesome Wave came out in the spring 2012: the record received generally favourable reviews from critics, and was described as "a captivating combination of insatiable groove and deep poignancy..." The disc's cover art also showcased a work of art: a breathtaking overhead view of the largest river delta in the world, where the Ganges River meets the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh... In the same year, the Alt-J has been announced as the winner of the award Mercury Prize! For a young team of Leeds It was a huge breakthrough... The participants themselves characterised the event as "a life-changing moment":

"We felt a bit like imposters at first: a young band that had somehow miraculously made it this far... We're just guys from Leeds who have always loved music..."

After graduation. An Awesome Wave the band played a short headlining tour of the UK and Ireland! A little later. Alt-J also performed in the US, and appeared at numerous summer festivals... However, there was still plenty of change ahead of them.

Reincarnating as a trio

At the beginning of the 2014 the group is leaving Sainsbury's... In doing so, he and the other participants Alt-J Soon the trio went on tour in North America, and in the summer of the same year their second album was announced! Released in September, This Is All Yours debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart! It was a real big win for the band.....

His third album Relaxer the band released in 2017: the single "Deadcrush"The album was included in the soundtrack of the FIFA 18 game! The record was later nominated for the Mercury Prize, and an alternative version was released a year later under the name of Reduxer…

Influence...

Basically, the impact of Alt-J is centred in their postmodern lyricism: in their songs the band covers historical events and pop culture themes. For example, the composition "Taro" refers us to Gerde Taro - a famous war photographer who is remembered by the world for her career during the Spanish Civil War. The song also describes her romantic relationship with the by Robert Capaas well as the death of the last...

Equally popular is the song "Matilda" - character reference Natalie Portman in the cult film "Leon":

Composition "Fitzpleasure" serves as the narrative of a violent story "Tralala" by an American writer Hubert Selby Jr.…

Equally influential and delightful is the signature and instantly recognisable sound Alt-Jwhich, according to the participants themselves, originated in their student days: the thing is that in the dormitory it was not allowed to make noise, so the guys emphasised during the early rehearsals on a lighter and more soulful sound... You can say that their music floats above you....

Popularity on television and in the media

Tracks Alt-J are very popular in the media, in the cinema and on television! So, for example, the already mentioned above "Fitzpleasure" plays in the background in the 2015 comedy "Sisters". The same song was included in the main trailer of the video game Battleborn! Trek "Left Hand Free" can be heard in the superhero film "Captain America: Civil War"from Marvel," as well as in the TV series "Outer shoals". I'm sure a lot of people have seen the film "My boyfriend. - psycho" with Jennifer Lawrence и Bradley Cooper in the lead roles! So the song "Buffalo"was performed Alt-J in conjunction with Mountain Man... There are plenty of examples like this, but they all lead to the same thing: Alt-J - is a successful and already popular all over the world musical project, whose hypnotic songs everyone should hear at least once in their lives...