On the precipice of an era in music where the casual listener’s attention span can barely last a commercials length, there are albums being put out that hope to buck this unsettling trend. Albums that you don’t want to switch off. Albums that inspire and linger in the corners of your conscience. Alt-J is a breath of fresh air with majorly addictive qualities.

Described as “folk-step”, this group from Leeds pushes out a genre defying combination of emotionally charged music. I keep returning to An Awesome Wave, always leaving mystified and awestruck. Song to song, this debut album never shows its hand early; yet still manages to flow seamlessly forward. Hell, you’ll even have trouble predicting the next verse in many of these tracks.

Short instrumental respites effectively segment the album and provide logical transitions that connect effortlessly. Not to mention, they’re quite beautiful by themselves.

If you’re waiting for a weak/out of place track on this LP, you won’t find one. The first single, Breezeblocks, is well positioned as an energetic primer for the rest of album. Just an all-around great song that hints at the physical insanity to be delivered later by Fitzpleasure. A brief acoustic guitar interlude segues perfectly into the beautifully melodic Something Good. One of the softer tracks offered by An Awesome Wave, yet easily one of the strongest tracks.

Dissolve Me is one of those songs that you never expected to be your favorite. But after returning over and over again, the vocal harmonies and developed passion expressed through Joe Newman’s delivery are too much to ignore. I’m hooked. See ya later. Can’t wait to follow alt-J’s development and catch many, many live shows (hopefully).

alt-J (∆) – An Awesome Wave

Check out the wild video for Breezeblocks after the jump.

Alt-J (∆) – Breezeblocks (video)