Alt-J fails to innovate with sophomore release

Indie-rock band alt-J certainly had big shoes to fill after its first full-length record, “An Awesome Wave” (2012), peaked at No. 13 on the U.K.’s Top 20 chart. It seemed like every radio station from here to Switzerland played the popular single, “Tessellate" (2012), on repeat. This “folk-tronica” crew formed in 2007 in Leeds, England, the inspiration for their name coming from the Macintosh keyboard shortcut for a triangle -- “alt” and “j” (perhaps a preemptive attempt to teach their hipster following just how to use their brand new MacBook Pros).

In the afterglow of the band’s 2012 success, some critics went as far as to pronounce them the “new Radiohead.” Coincidentally, the Sept. 22 release of their second album, “This Is All Yours,” came in the same week that Thom Yorke’s surprise new album was announced online and made available through a file sharing software. But, after alt-J’s keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton joked in 2012 that his posse was "doing better than Radiohead" in their early years, the indie-rock world will have to be the judge of how this competition plays out. Unfortunately for alt-J, their second release makes it fairly clear that they have some catching up to do.

“This Is All Yours” is, at best, pleasant background music for your next study session at Starbucks. “Intro” sounds much too familiar to the intro track of its predecessor album. The whimsical flutes in the background of “Every Other Freckle” are intriguing to say the least and the bonus track, “Lovely Day,” may leave you with a slight grin on your face. But there’s not much that sticks out: no track worthy of playing on repeat until it simply becomes unbearable, no moment that will completely take a listener's breath away.

Alt-J doesn’t fail to produce interesting sounds -- a knack it demonstrated most successfully on its first album -- blending both acoustic guitars with electronica effects beneath vocalist Joe Newman’s raspy, folksy voice. And, with a sample from Miley Cyrus’s “4X4” (2013) in “Hunger Of The Pine,” the band proves it knows how to have a little bit of fun. Yet, this latest release sounds like a subpar continuation of its first album. It's as if the band decided that the addition of a few new flutes and medieval-sounding choruses would be a simple enough addition for its sophomore variation.

The album is hauntingly framed by a connection to Nara -- a city in Japan known for its free roaming deer. It opens with “Arrival in Nara,” a soothing, largely acoustic track featuring piano melodies and soft guitar plucking. Newman’s crooning voice weaves in and out of the track, telling the story of neither an arrival nor of Nara, but of an ending: a girl “sucking splash into her lungs” and drowning.  The titular city is finally mentioned in the next track, in which Newman declares he wants “to be a deer in Nara,” a claim accompanied by mentions of “Bovay” and “Alabama.” He sings “love is the warmest color” -- perhaps alluding to the recent film “Blue Is the Warmest Color” (2013) -- but the exact message alt-J is attempting to convey remains largely vague and unrealized.

Newman's point may be a grand political statement. "Bovay" could be a reference to Alan Bovay, credited with founding the United States Republican Party, while Alabama is possibly the most conservative state in the country. These potential allusions occur alongside the mention of a lesbian romance film and Newman’s declaration of love for a man. Could these lyrics be a comment on gay rights and the legality of same-sex marriage? Or perhaps Newman merely thought “Alabama” sounded exotic enough to enhance his repetitive, sparse lyrics and threw the state’s name into the mix on a whim.

If anything, the desire “to be a deer in Nara” encapsulates the fairy tale vibe of this album as a whole. One can easily envision a couple’s celebratory prancing during “Garden of England -- Interlude,” moving freely to its odd medieval flutes and chirping birds. “Left Hand Free,” a lo-fi rock-and-roll track that sounds a whole lot like The Black Keys is worthy of a few head nods, too.  Later, Newman’s optimistic “Warm Foothills” provides some tranquil moments, featuring a collaboration with Conor Oberst and a bit of Andrew Bird-like whistling.

"Warm Foothills" condenses the spirit of the album as a whole. It's pleasant easy-listening, flavored with just enough innovation to allow the average American Top-40 listener to feel that they’re “expanding their horizons.”