Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
Released 25th May 2012, Infectious Music
A worthy winner of The Edge’s number one album of 2012, this year the band have gathered a healthy fan base, helped by many festival performances over the summer. The record only reached number thirteen in the UK album charts, but re-entered the charts in November when An Awesome Wave was announced as the winner of the Mercury Music Prize 2012.
Statistics:
- 55% of contributors included the album in their top ten
- Of those, 47% ranked the album in their top three
- Ranked the album of the year by three contributors
Review by David Martin, Edge Editor (ranked the album #1):
Alt-J are a band that really took the country by surprise; prior to this year very few had heard of the four-piece let alone predicted their meteoric rise. An Awesome Wave is a wonderfully crafted album that is balanced and poised at each step, made all the more spectacular by its unconventional instrumentation. Tracks such as ‘Breezeblocks’ show a lively collection of soft beats and vocals, while ‘Taro’ is an energetic yet sombre track that really catches your attention. Alt-J shook up 2012 and did it with style.
Review by Tom Mitchell, Edge reader (ranked the album #1):
After first coming across the group in the spring of this year, it was the unique combination of folk and electronica that initially pulled me towards the band upon first listen. Two completely different musical genres which are so far apart but have been intertwined to a great effect whilst still maintaining a commercial and listenable appeal. An Awesome Wave presents a unique and innovative vocal style, overlapping across this cross-genre record and like previous Mercury Prize winners such as The xx a few years previously, Alt-J have been able to establish themselves in their own niche genre.
Other accolades:
- Ranked #2 on Clash’s “Top 40 Albums of 2012” list
- Ranked #3 on Gigwise’s “Albums of the Year” list
- Ranked #5 on NME’s “Albums of the Year” list
