Following the announcement of second album This Is All Yours and lead single ‘Hunger of the Pine’, Alt-J are back with another track from the upcoming record. Speaking about the track, ‘Left Hand Free’, the band have called it “the least Alt-J song ever”, written to appease their American label who didn’t think ‘Hunger of the Pine’ was a “big single.” Front-man Joe Newman revealed to The Guardian that they had written the song in 20 minutes based around a “joke riff” he started playing one day. It is their first release since the departure of band member Gwil Sainsbury, who left the band amicably earlier this year owing to personal reasons.
The track is more stereotypically commercial than previous singles, with it’s repetitive and catchy classic blues-rock hook. It is less experimental than previous Alt-J tracks, although still has their trademark style. Despite the ethos around the track being a bit of a joke, the single is actually great. It demonstrates Alt-J’s ever increasing diversity which will excite fans for the upcoming second album, This Is All Yours, that is to be released on September 22.
8/10
