It was a humbled Alt-J who played last night high up on the hill at Ally Pally, a suitably grand venue, capable of holding the thousands of fans and the majesty of the set list.
They opened with ‘Hunger on the Pine’, inducing an atmospheric backdrop to the performance and proving that even disembodied Miley Cyrus has a stage presence. ‘Fitzpleasure’ throbbed familiar bass lines into an eager crowd, followed by ‘Something Good’, which suffered slightly, losing a little of the tilting melody to the bass heavy live rendition.
Returning to the new album, the band moved into the sexy Black Keys-esque ‘Left Hand Free’, a single which perhaps more than any other strays from their characteristic style and really proves the spectrum of Alt-J’s undeniable talent. It is illustrative of the more seductive sound on this album, no track demonstrating it more so than the naughty-lyric-laden ‘Every Other Freckle’.
For an encore, they pulled off a nerdy breakdown of Bill Withers’ ‘Lovely Day’ and it should be applauded; Alt-J do truly interpretative covers, morphing unlikely songs into their own signature math-rock style. ‘Nara’, played next, is an ethereal track which perfectly complemented the opening ‘Hunger of the Pine’, hinting at fitting and thoughtful structural focus.
The final track was ‘Breezeblocks’, inviting a willing crowd to sing out their sincere plea: “Please don’t go, I love you so”. Joe Newman seemed to know what he was doing letting the crowd take the lead on those lyrics; it was a mutually appreciative moment everyone was happy to share in. The new album is perhaps not as full of stand-alone singles as the first – this would be an impressive feat. The new tracks however are arguably more hypnotic and mesmerising live than the well-known tracks of the last album; seducing the listener, leading them deeper into a textured and emotive maze of sound.
This development is intense, skilful and bizarrely sexy; all good things anything but normal.
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