Alt-J - Left Hand Free

Across the Hipsterverse, steam is being wiped from oversized glasses, handlebar moustaches are drooping in disbelief and post-ironic bucket hats have fluttered onto the floor. Sure, ‘Left Hand Free’ has the usual kooky lyrics and elements of musical experimentation. But it definitely feels like Alt-J may have read the script wrong. Usually the Mercury Prize winning aesthetes inject their tracks with a certain blue and melancholic atmosphere. This time, they’ve taken ‘blues’ in the more stonking-great-riffs and swaggering sense, to the extent of producing a track far closer to the Black Keys or Jack White than their usual influences.

It’s true that they lost bassist Gwil Sainsbury earlier this year, but they sure as hell haven’t lost the bass; ‘Left Hand Free’ shudders with a four-string onslaught more groovy than a crinkled crisp at a Chic gig, while the usual delicate guitar arpeggios have been flattened with guitar chords obese enough to take down a small herd of goats. There’s even an absurdly brilliant solo-section triggered by a smooth-as “speak easy” declaration, one that oozes with trippy piano jamming and newfound style. On the one hand, for the trio’s die-hard fans, it may not seem right; but for those left, it’s the exciting sound of a band that are completely liberated.