Album Review

Alt-J – Fitzpleasure/Matilda

• 27th Feb 2012

Blimey. Fitzpleasure blindsides you a bit. From the beginning, the gigantic humming bass fairly bowls you over, while front man Joe Newman’s voice cackles and twangs at you like a character from Deliverance. It makes the hackles rise a little, in an electrifying, joyful way. With slightly maniacal tempo changes, chilling harmonic chanting and twinkles of lilting melody, this is an unsettling, powerful and thrilling song. True to its name, it’s a downright pleasure. It has battered its way into me and is now well under my skin, still thrumming away, long after that vibrating bass’s final fade-out.

On the flip side, Matilda is a much more domesticated animal, albeit one with a bit of a bite. Softer, sweeter, steadier, it takes a low-key acoustic approach, with beautiful guitar strings and a light, choppy drumming. It’s a little folky, and more accessibly consistent. There’s still no escaping that edge to Newman’s voice though, which gives the song a dark and slightly menacing quality. It’s apparently dedicated to Mathilda in Luc Besson’s film ‘Leon’, which says it all really.

This single is out on Infectious, Alt-J’s new home, which will also see the release of their album later this year. Based on these two tracks, that’s an album to look forward to.