REVIEW BY LLOYD WAKELING
ALT J THE DREAM OUT NOW!!!
ORDER HERE
Atmospheric, dramatic, isolated and full of deathly quiet, the new album from Alt-J called ‘The Dream’, invokes so many memories of the Covid experience that we all still have fresh in our minds and tailors our senses in a way that brings that isolation to the fore, colouring it in so many shades of black, blue and melancholy
Conjured from those recent dark days and produced mostly individually from the 3 members until the final cuts, these tracks expertly paint mood and uncertainty upon a canvas of simplicity that bares our and the bands insecurities of those bleak months and now years.
Each track feels like it’s own tortured journey from inception to finished art piece, caring not for the blasé but revealing an inward looking reflection that many of us probably went through during those days, giving us a completely different perspective of ourselves, our values….our world.
Yes this is dark and difficult to listen to, but that I feel is it’s purpose, it wants to be, and it trades in nothing to be that way.
Let’s face it, they were dark and unpredictable days, nothing normal happened, this album is of that time, beautiful, remarkable, completely insane but then again so was the collective aroma of banana bread…just saying.
THE DREAM TRACK LISTING
1/ BARE
2/ U&ME
3/ HARD DRIVE GOLD
4/ HAPPIER WHEN YOU’RE GONE
5/ THE ACTOR
6/ GET BETTER
7/ CHICAGO
8/ PHILADELPHIA
9/ WALK A MILE
10/ DELTA
11/ LOSING MY MIND
12/ POWDERS
ALT J TOUR DATES
MAY
Thu 05 EDINBURGH Liquid Rooms (with ASSAI RECORDS)
Fri 06 GLASGOW Barrowland
Sat 07 GLASGOW Barrowland
Mon 09 LEEDS O2 Academy
Fri 13 MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Sat 14 LIVERPOOL Jacaranda Records (with JACARANDA RECORDS)
Mon 16 OXFORD O2 Academy (with TRUCK RECORDS)
Wed 18 LONDON O2 Brixton Academy
Thu 19 LONDON O2 Brixton Academy
Fri 20 LONDON O2 Brixton Academy
Sun 22 DUBLIN Olympia Theatre
Mon 23 DUBLIN Olympia Theatre
Wed 25 BELFAST Telegraph Building
Fri 27 BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy
Sat 28 BRIGHTON Chalk (with RESIDENT RECORDS)
JUNE
Thu 07 KINGSTON Pryzm (with BANQUET RECORDS
FOLLOW ALT J
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago