alt-j performing at Red Rocks. (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

You heard right, Alt- J is back! After a long three years of waiting, we have had a huge week in Alt-J world! The band has released the first single from their new album, gave us an album drop date, and announced a US tour. I hope this makes all you Alt-J fans giddy with excitement; I know I am!

Alt-J’s brand new single is entitled “3WW” and is pure musical gold. To properly review this song I had to listen to it on repeat, which wasn’t a change from what I have been doing since Monday when it hit Spotify (No kidding- I have probably listened 200x).

Alt-J’s familiar melodic sound is unmistakable even in the first few notes. Certainly, the beautiful, sexy song that follows will not leave many fans disappointed. The first third of 3WW is solely instrumental, but like they say, time flies when you’re having fun. At 1:42 you hear the smooth voice of Joe Newman singing some words you probably don’t understand unless you listen close, but this is the norm with most Alt-J jams. At this point you can let yourself become overly excited, this is when you are sure this song is going to be really, really good.

3WW is mostly about love and sex. One of my favorite lines is, “the smell of sex burned like burning wood.” Soon after these lyrics, Ellie Roswell, of the band Wolf Alice, comes in with her dazzlingly sultry voice to reveal more details to the story of the tune. She mentions flirty girls in a pool, asks if it was their first time and sings of sex next to a campfire: “love is just a button we pressed last night next to the campfire.” When Joe and Ellie’s voices mix they intertwine effortlessly and harmoniously, as if they were made for each other.

The song overall is a jammer and a half. Addicting, sexy, wonderful, and completely up to par with what we now expect to hear from Alt-J. I, like many others, am counting down the days until June 9th when the album will be released. If 3WW is any indication of the rest of the album, we are in for a real treat.

Tickets for the Red Rocks show go on sale Friday at 10am. Make sure you grab yours ASAP, as this show is bound to sell out!

RELAXER tracklisting

1. 3WW
2. In Cold Blood
3. House of the Rising Sun
4. Hit Me Like That Snare
5. Deadcrush
6. Adeline
7. Last Year
8. Pleader

Listen to '3WW':
https://alt-j.lnk.to/3wwPR
Watch the '3WW' visualizer: https://youtu.be/bDUUOt30TGA
Pre-order RELAXER:
https://alt-j.lnk.to/RelaxerPR

Monday night Red Rocks Amphitheatre played host to two amazing bands. Opening up the night were Brooklyn outfit TV on the Radio. The band ripped through their hour set at a frantic pace that had lead singer Tunde Adebimpe pacing up and down the Red Rocks stage with his unique dance moves. They played a slew of hits off of their extended catalog opening with "Young Liars" and other notable hits like "Wolf Like Me", "Happy Idiot", and ending with "Staring at the Sun", a fitting number just as the sun began to set for headliners alt-J.

As the house music went silent black and blue lighting highlighted silhouettes of the four piece band hailing from Leeds, England. The haunting riffs of "Hunger of the Pine", began to blare out of the speakers sending the crowd into a frenzy. The sold-out crowd fed off the band with almost every song. Not a hard feat considering the band only has two studio albums to date. The band has progressively improved their sound since the last time we saw them this past October. With infectious Gregorian-like chants and sexual inducing dance numbers like "Tessellate", the band was flanked by a light show that captured the essence of the venue to perfection. The band has made themselves home here in Colorado judging by the audience. A younger crowd seemed to be more evident this time giving way to the bands reach that is only beginning to grow bigger and bigger every time.

Words and Images-Castro