Alt-J - Every Other Freckle

Blame it on the Mercury Prize winnings, a touring lifestyle, or just a switch in mentality - something’s shifted in Alt-J’s frame of mind. They’ve never been shy to throw in the odd lyrical curveball, but “I’m gonna turn you inside out and lick you like a crisp packet” is, well, a real game-changer. Bear in mind that this follows ‘Left Hand Free’, a song that the majority of well-sensed listeners have equated to being about “intimate times”. Perhaps these seemingly shy, introverted so-and-sos have been spilling out their innermost secrets on record the whole time.

‘Every Other Freckle’ is weird. Then again, Alt-J always have been, and each time round they get away with it. “Let me be the wallpaper that papers your room” is a one-liner that could be delivered by nobody else - not even Ryan Gosling, high on his own sense of self-worth. It’s seedy, it’s stupid, and it’s borderline hilarious. That’s forgetting the sheer goofiness of what’s going on musically, too. There’s “hey!” chants, cooing hums, hand claps, the faint hint of cowbell and a “do-do-do-do” interlude that could easily be soundtracking an Amish house party.

Alt-J are utterly out of their heads, and that’s how it should be.