alt-J’s latest album, Reduxer, is not an album of brand new songs, but an album of brand new remixes of tracks from 2017’s Relaxer. The record revives the original tracks to create a more vibrant and versatile creation. Anyone who criticizes alt-J for the semi-fact that after album two they’ve started to sound a bit samey will certainly have nothing to complain about on this one. That’s not to say, however, that the album was a total success.
Little Simz version of “3WW” is a weak start to the album. The rapping is decent enough but the mix just doesn’t work. Joe Newman’s vocals are misplaced in the track and the song is slow and uninteresting.
Twin Shadow and Pusha T’s take on “In Cold Blood” is significantly better. The creative beats mix well with alt-J’s weird vocals about binary code to produce something which could genuinely be described as quite innovative. “House of the Rising Sun” is also enjoyable. The soft and relaxing Animals’ cover on Relaxer is far more gripping here. Newman’s vocals are merged well, whereas, in certain tracks (such as the opener), it sounds forced. Tuka’s lyrics are also clever and he references the original, lyrically punning with “party with the animals”.
Other good tracks include Jimmi Charles Moody and Rejjie Snow’s distinct versions of “Hit Me Like A Snare.” Snow’s version includes the addition of synth and is far more chilled than Moody’s soulful version. You can hardly tell that they are remixes of the same song.
Unfortunately, many of the other tracks are extremely forgettable. It’s not that they’re necessarily bad, it’s just that they are remixes of songs that weren’t that great to begin with when they were originally featured on Relaxer. For example, the remixes of “Last Year” and “Pleader” are alright but they seem to detract from the album as a whole, which quickly gets boring despite the array of talent featured on it.
Overall, the album successfully infuses hip-hop with alt-J’s signature sound. That said, enough of the tracks fail, meaning it might have made sense to add a handful of remixes to Relaxer in a deluxe extended addition, rather than bring out an adequate 11 track record that will likely disappoint alt-J fans.
2.5/5
