Although their differing popular appeal might make this comparison look somewhat ineffectual, these British alt-rockers are pretty much deciding on their career choices by following MGMT’s blueprint – both bands released hit and miss indie pop debut albums whose crossover potential was fully reached a few months after release (sure, “Default” and “Life’s Beach” never got close to “Kids” or “Time to Pretend” commercial success, but they were still pretty huge in their own terms), and both acts ended up putting out pretty decent second albums which nonetheless alienated part of their audience by veering off from the more palatable, festival-ready sound of their debuts.

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Django Django are now ready to carry on with their metamorphosis into alt-rock oddballs with the release of their third studio album “Marble Skies”, a 40-minute study in the history of pop and rock music whose far-reaching ambitions are precisely what turns it into a slightly underwhelming record. To start with, it’s strangely uneven, as if it were aiming at wildly different things at the same time. The opening title track is a plodding, generic indie pop tune which at first appears to be channelling MGMT’s post-debut material only to reach a tiresome, unmemorable chorus. Opening tracks are supposed to make a big impression and to set the tone for the rest of the album, and “Marble Skies” is an utter failure in both regards.

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Django Django‘s “Marble Skies” have far-reaching ambitions and this is precisely what turns it into a slightly underwhelming record

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Not that the rest of the album sounds like that, fortunately. In fact, “Marble Skies” can be a quiet compelling pop record at times – take the Self Esteem collaboration “Surface to Air”, a delightfully lightweight chunk of radio-friendly pop which sees Django Django acting as Rebecca Taylor’s backing band. Not to take a dig at Vincent Neff’s vocal abilities, but Taylor’s warm vocals sung over the song’s simple yet fresh beat makes for a better single than any other song in “Marble Skies”.

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While “Marble Skies” retains a certain chilly tone provided by its airy synths and bass driven instrumentals, it is definitely heterogeneous in spirit – with its appealing mix of jangly guitars, propelling drumming and clear vocals, “Tic Tac Toe” works as an instant throwback to some of the rawest The Smiths material, while other tracks have Django Django erring more on the psych rock side or working towards becoming a more pedestrian version of Animal Collective (see “Real Gone”). The oddly off-kilter art-pop of “Sundials” seamlessly transitions into “Beam me Up”, a New Romantic, mid-tempo synth-pop song reminiscent of early career Depeche Mode that flows smoothly into “Your Beat”, a failed Pet Shop Boys imitation that is in desperate need of a better chorus.

Listen to “Marble Skies” once and you won’t remember a single thing about half of these songs. Listen to it twice and you’ll probably get a vague recollection of how “Surface to Air” and “Tic Tac Toe” sound like, but that’s pretty much it. None of these melodies are going to worm their way into your head, and the tracks aren’t sufficiently interesting production or instrumental-wise to warrant repeated listens. On “Marble Skies”, Django Django double down on their aspirations to become England’s most recognizable alien pop band after alt-J, but their bet, just like the last work by their Leeds-based peers, blatantly misfires.

We all got to know the Leeds band back in 2012 with their Mercury Prize, breakthrough album: “An Awesome Wave”. Then, in 2014 we had “This is All Yours” – while some bands would go on a more commercial path following the commercial and critical success of their previous album, Alt-J decided to go and explore more the instrumental part and less about the writing. Now, 3 years after, it is time for “Relaxer”.

The album opens with the first single released, “3WW” – which stands for “3 Worn Words” – featuring Ellie Rowsell from Wolf Alice. The opener is a deeply relaxing sexual song and it sounds like a point of view of 2 people regarding their previous night. Next we have the second single, “In Cold Blood” and it is impressive how a song that starts with “zero-one-one-one-zero-zero-one-one” can be so captivating, even though the band itself told that the lyrics are not that meaningful – which is true.

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Then, suddenly, we got to “House of the Rising Sun” – yes, well known for The Animals cover. The song itself is way more folk than the original one and contains an original chorus – a lackluster “it’s a happy, happy, happy fun day” – and second verse, and it feels displaced while compared to the two previous songs. From there, we pass to the garage-rock influenced “Hit Me Like That Snare” – which is probably the most sexual song of the album, with the first lyrics being “I’m at the door at a quarter to four / Poppers popping baby might take some more”.

“Deadcrush” follows with an extremely on-point bass and just like the name says, it is a song about having a crush on someone that is dead. The third single of the album, “Adeline” is track number six and it is a beautiful ballad about “a Tasmanian devil that falls in love with a woman he watches swimming every day”.

Alt-J are not your typical indie-rock band – they take risks, they explore they sound and they try to expand from their previous sound.

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The last two songs are the quiet and sad “Last Year” and the almost religious “Pleader” featuring the London Metropolitan Orchestra and Ely Cathedral Boy Choristers. While individually, each track defends itself well, you would expect that “Relaxer” would be more cohesive, more put together – especially, when it is only an 8 track, 39 minutes’ album. Instead, it almost seems like they put songs that they have composed and liked into an album without thinking about the direction to go.

It is not an easy to digest album neither. With all the oscillations, it is quite challenging to go through the album, as a whole. With that being said, Alt-J are not your typical indie-rock band – they take risks, they explore their sound and they try to expand from their previous sound. Joe’s voice sounds as soulful as ever.

In general, it takes a couple of time to get used to “Relaxer” and for sure will let some die-hard fans disappointed but, if you like an eclectic album, then you are in for a treat.

Coming from their new album “Revolver” out in June.

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Arnaud: I have to be honest, I never really followed Alt-J’s releases so far but I was positively surprised by this new track. This is well-crafted, quite subtle and I really like the “I just want to love you in my own language”. For me, “3WW” was like Third World War and it is true that sometimes misunderstanding can lead to conflicts.

Matias: I have actually no real choice in here since my roommate is listening to it on repeat. The track is really well-crafted and it stays very proper to Alt-J‘s sound with still keeping something very modern.

Remy Ma shared “Shether” and “Another One” where he was dissing Nicki Minaj on collaborating with Gucci Mane. Here is Nicki’s response: No Frauds feat. Drake and Lil Wayne.

Arnaud: Remy simply shot Nicki with “Shether” and her collaborative answer was so polished and clean. Remy is right: “Only The Kids Believe In You” and it is a bit too easy to attack popstars and avoid the diss with other rappers.

Matias:

After the huge success of “Caroline” the Portland rapper is back with a new track “Redmercedes”.

Arnaud:

Matias: I’m not really a super fan of Aminé for any particular reasons to be honest, but this production is so rich, I’m into it.

Coming from her mixtape “Number 1 girl” out today, Charli XCX shared “Babygirl” featuring Uffie via Zane Lowe.

Matias: I love the mixtape and this song represents a lot of what I like in pop: catchy choruses, good production. I think the album is going to be better though, since “Girls Night Out” will be in it and I’m waiting for that song to come out for already two years. And also, I can address an apology in here: I met Uffie a few years ago, and I was such a drunk asshole to her. SORRY UFFIE!

Arnaud: I was quite disappointed with the mixtape that was dull in my opinion if you compare it to her “Vroom Vroom EP”. Some tracks are really not good. “Babygirl”, her collaboration with one of her icon Uffie, is OK, though: the 80s-infused vibes are pleasant but I have to say I was expecting more from it and the whole mixtape.

Arnaud: When Jonna Lee of iamamiwhoami goes solo, the whole pop world benefits from it. I don’t know what’s the secret of Scandinavian people, it’s like if they were made for that. “Samaritan” is a great song and the visuals are dope too; as always with iamamiwhoami.

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Matias: I wanted to talk about the Jonna Lee track but Arnaud already did. So, I’m going to put the last EP of Shy Luv called “Shock Horror” that I have been listening pretty much on repeat for a few days already. My favorite: “Nightingale”.

[su_dropcap style=”simple”]D[/su_dropcap]iscover Foreign Air a fresh duo from the USA and their indie-rock debut single/anthem “Free Animal”.

Jacob Michael and Jesse Clasen are the two members behind Foreign Air. Even if they just released their debut single, the two artists are far from being rookies as they’ve been around for a moment. They have been working on different previous projects, until they met each other. Since that, Foreign Air started and it’s only the beginning.

The first single “Free Animal” is a serious anthem to freedom, they are unstoppable and they’re quite confident about it.
It will seriously give you some huge Glass Animals feelings the whole song with an aftertaste of Alt-J during the hooks.

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For now, the duo only has “Free Animal” out, but they have an EP on the way. Expect it to be released in February 2016.
During the wait, we will just enjoy this explosive debut single and watch the quick and sudden fame growing around the band.