Wikipedia

Relaxer(album)

"RELAXER" redirects here. For the hairdressing term, seeRelaxer.

Relaxer(stylised asRELAXER) is the thirdstudio albumby Englishindie rockbandalt-J,released on 2 June 2017[5]byInfectious Musicand theCanvasback Musicdivision ofAtlantic Records.[6]It was originally scheduled to be released on 9 June 2017 but the band later decided to release it a week earlier.

Relaxer
Studio albumby
alt-J
Released2 June 2017(2017-06-02)
RecordedAugust 2016 – January 2017
StudioIguana Studios,Brixton
Abbey Road Studios,Westminster
The Church Studios,Crouch End
Strongroom Studios,Shoreditch
Ely Cathedral,Ely
Genre
Length38:59
Label
ProducerCharlie Andrew
Alt-Jchronology
This Is All Yours
(2014) 		Relaxer
(2017) 		Reduxer
(2018)
SinglesfromRelaxer
  1. "3WW"
    Released: 6 March 2017
  2. "In Cold Blood"
    Released: 29 March 2017
  3. "Adeline"
    Released: 24 May 2017
  4. "Deadcrush"
    Released: 12 July 2017
  5. "Pleader"
    Released: 15 September 2017

The band recordedRelaxerinLondonwith producerCharlie Andrew,who also produced alt-J's first two albums. It includes songs composed entirely during the album's recording and songs dating back to the band's formative years at theUniversity of Leeds.Six of the album's eight tracks featurestringsarranged by alt-J and performed by theLondon Metropolitan Orchestra."House of the Rising Sun"is a rearrangement of the traditional folk tune with additional verses from the band." 3WW "and" Deadcrush "feature guest vocals from Ellie Rowsell ofWolf Aliceand "Last Year" features guest vocals fromMarika Hackman,who sang on alt-J's previous album.

alt-J promotedRelaxerwith the singles "3WW","In Cold Blood","Adeline","Deadcrush"and"Pleader",with music videos for all except" Adeline ". The band also enlisted Japanese artistOsamu Satoto create a playable online game inspired by his own gameLSD: Dream Emulatoras part of the promotion forRelaxer.The album's artwork features a screenshot from Sato's game. The band embarked on theRelaxerTouron 10 June 2017 with performances at festivals includingGlastonburyandLollapalooza.The album was nominated for the 2017Mercury Prize.[7]A remix album of tracks fromRelaxertitledReduxerwas released on 28 September 2018.[8]

Background and recording

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The band recorded string and brass sections at London's famedAbbey Road Studios(pictured)

In 2014, alt-J released their second studio albumThis Is All Yoursto commercial success, going straight to Number 1 on theUK Albums Chart.[9]The band began touring in September 2014, performing for the first time since the departure of group member Gwil Sainsbury. They toured to the end of 2015, headlining their largest US show atMadison Square Garden.The band's popularity grew further when their songs were featured in films, television shows and commercials. The album was nominated forBest Alternative Music Albumat the57th Grammy Awards.[10]

In December 2015, alt-J finished performing the final shows of their tour in support ofThis Is All Yours.The band returned to London, taking their first break from writing and touring since the recording of their debut albumAn Awesome Wavein 2011. DrummerThom Sonny Greenreleased his solo debut albumHigh Anxietyon 19 August 2016; keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton started Dandy Café, apop-uprestaurant inLondon Fields;[11]and lead vocalist Joe Newman took time off, during which he watched films.[12]

The band reconvened in a writing studio inNorth Londonto "take the bubble wrap off" their ideas for new material and eventually began recording for the album in August 2016.[13]

alt-J experimented with field recording onRelaxer,and visitedEly Cathedral(pictured)in Cambridgeshire to record the cathedral's organ and boys' choir

In November 2016, alt-J traveled toEly,a cathedral city inCambridgeshire,to conductfield recordingsof its organ and its boys' choir, which Unger-Hamilton was a member of during his youth.[13][14]They also recorded burning sounds from the cathedral's cast iron heaters and the sounds of visitors walking its floors.[13]

The band recorded string sections for "3WW" and "Adeline" and brass sections for "In Cold Blood" in Studio Two[15]of London's famedAbbey Road StudiosinWestminster,which they revealed onInstagramin January 2017.[16]

Music and lyrics

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"In Cold Blood" features "interweaving vocals" underpinned by the "flashes" of a brass section and the "bleeping electronics" of aCasiotonepurchased by the band for £1.05 oneBay.[17]

"House of the Rising Sun" is a rearrangement of thetraditional folk tunewith additional verses from the band. It begins on the traditional chorus and first verse ofWoody Guthrie's version, with minor differences. The second verse is original and was written by Joe Newman. The song is also structured around a separate original chorus written by the band. Unger-Hamilton described the song as an "original piece of work and not just chucking in a cover to fill space as it were."[18]It features twenty classical guitarists playing at once,[13]which Unger-Hamilton likened to the work ofJohn Cage:"you're not just hearing the guitar riffs, you're hearing the sound of the room, you're hearing 20 different people's fingers creaking on the neck. And you're listening to everything, and that's what you get from doing it properly and not just layering up one person 20 times."[19]

"Hit Me Like That Snare" is a "garage-rock"jaminspired by "Decks Dark"byRadiohead.[20][21]The song is about a person who goes to experience asex hoteland wanders from room to room. It contains the lyric "We're going down, fuck my life in half", which is taken from when Joe Newman was driving to London fromSouthamptonwith his girlfriend when his car hit a large puddle and he screamed, "Fuck my life in half."[13]

The Guardianlikened the music of "Deadcrush" to that ofNine Inch Nails,[22]whereasPopMatterscompared it to that ofDepeche Mode.[23]

"Last Year" is a gentle "acoustic lullaby",[24]closing on a bassoon solo.[25]In the first half, Joe Newman sings from the point of view of a man experiencing a decline in his mental health in 2016. It is sung chronologically, with Newman listing each month followed by the man's reflection. The second half of the song introducesMarika Hackmansinging as the man's ex-girlfriend, who broke up with him in January and is now singing at his funeral in December.[26]

"Pleader" is a "theatrical crescendo"[24]that prominently features orchestral strings andSpanish guitar.Its lyrics are based on the plot ofRichard Llewellyn's bookHow Green Was My Valley,about a small mining community in nineteenth-centuryWales.The book's title is repeated in the song's refrain. It is structured as a hymn and features the boys' choir and the organ of Ely Cathedral, which were added to give a "church feeling" to the song.[27]Unger-Hamilton described it as a "pastoral celebration of a time that's no longer, a time that's gone."[28]

The titleRelaxerwas originally the name of song made by drummer Thom Sonny Green and was then originally in the lyrics for "Deadcrush". Green felt that the name seemed to fit the album overall, stating, "We do always want our albums to be listened to as a single piece of music."[21]

Promotion and release

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On 3 March 2017, alt-J uploaded a one-minute video to social media containing new music and what was reported to be footage from the 1998video gameLSD.[29]The video was tagged with the title "00110011 01110111 01110111", which isbinary codefor "3ww".[30]On 6 March 2017,Relaxerwas announced with a 9 June 2017 release date and its first single "3WW" was released with an accompanying visualizer video similar toLSD.[31]On 29 March 2017, alt-J premiered "In Cold Blood" onMistaJam'sBBC Radio 1show as his 'Hottest Record in the World'.[32]It was released the same day with an accompanying visualizer video as the album's second single.[33]The band also announced that they decided to release the album a week earlier on 2 June 2017. "Adeline" was released on 24 May 2017 with an accompanying visualizer video asRelaxer's third single.[34]On 12 July 2017, "Deadcrush" was released as the fourth single from the album, with a music video. On 15 September 2017, aneditof "Pleader" was released as the fifth and final single.[35]A music video for "Pleader" was released on 15 November 2017.[36]

A music video for "3WW" was released on 13 April 2017.[37]AnIggy Pop-narrated music video for "In Cold Blood" was released on 9 May 2017.[38]alt-J partnered with director Alex Takacs for a second time for the music video for "Deadcrush" and released it on 12 July 2017.[39]

alt-J performing during theRelaxer Tour,at Positivus Festival 2017 in Zvejnieku Parks,Salacgrīva,Latvia.

On 19 May 2017, alt-J performed "3WW" and "In Cold Blood" on the sixth episode of the fiftieth series ofLater... with Jools Holland,accompanied byEllie Rowsellon "3WW".[40]On 18 April 2017, alt-J performed "In Cold Blood" on the 656th episode ofThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.The band performed the song with a backing horn section and withQuestlove,the drummer of Jimmy Fallon's house bandThe Roots.[41]On 5 June 2017, alt-J performed "In Cold Blood" onConan.[42]

Tour

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Main article:Relaxer Tour

A world tour in support ofRelaxerbegan on 10 June 2017 inRouen,France.The tour features several performances atmusic festivals,includingGlastonbury,theMontreux Jazz FestivalandLollapalooza.It includes dates inAustralia,New Zealand,Japan,Indonesiaand all acrossEuropeandNorth America.

On 11 December 2017, alt-j released2017 Live EP.Released as a free digital download on Canvasback Music's website, the EP collects live recordings of "Deadcrush", "Hit Me Like That Snare", "Dissolve Me","Every Other Freckle"and" Pleader "performed by the band during the North American leg of theRelaxerTour.[43]

Artwork

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Artwork forRelaxer's cover and promotional material was taken from the 1998PlayStationvideo gameLSD: Dream Emulatorby Japanese artistOsamu Sato.[44][45]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.7/10[46]
Metacritic65/100[47]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[48]
The A.V. ClubC+[49]
The Daily Telegraph[1]
The Guardian[22]
The Independent[50]
NME[2]
Pitchfork4.5/10[51]
Q[52]
Rolling Stone[53]
Uncut6/10[54]

AtMetacritic,which assigns anormalisedrating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications,Relaxerreceived anaveragescore of 65, based on 27 reviews.[47]InThe Daily Telegraph,chief criticNeil McCormickfound it "deeply gorgeous and utterly baffling", labelling it "internet era pop" with its "barrier-free absorption of so many different musical styles a product of the computer recording technology it is created with."[1]Lisa Wright ofDIYpraised the album, stating alt-J have "crafted possibly the most strangely original niche in modern music."[24]Kyle Mullin ofUnder the Radarpraised the album's diversity: "This all-over-the-map approach makes Relaxer a bit dizzying and tough to digest at first, and yet you'll be immediately captivated and intrigued by its distinctive mix. And once you give it a few more listens, many of its varied songs will worm their way into your ears as some of this summer's best indie rock offerings."[54]

In a negative review, Jayson Greene ofPitchforksaid, "The truth is that alt-J have never had an identity, really, apart from Newman's mangled lyrics and the fidgety, distracted arrangements of their songs.RELAXERshows us what remains after those quirks are dialed back: some perfectly nice, perfectly blank lads who have no idea why they are standing in front of you and even less of an idea what to say. "[51]

Accolades

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Relaxerwas shortlisted for the 2017Mercury Prize.[7]The band previously won the prize in 2012 for their debut albumAn Awesome Wave.[55]

Publication Accolade Year Rank Ref.
NME NME's Albums of the Year 2017
2017
38
[56]
Q 50 Best Albums of 2017
2017
45
[57]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton andThom Sonny Green,except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."3WW"5:00
2."In Cold Blood"3:26
3."House of the Rising Sun"Traditional5:20
4."Hit Me Like That Snare"3:37
5."Deadcrush"3:52
6."Adeline"
5:50
7."Last Year"6:06
8."Pleader"5:48
Total length:38:59

Notes

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Sample credits

Personnel

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Credits adapted from Tidal,[60]AllMusic[61]and Discogs[62]

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[84] Silver 60,000‡

‡Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label Ref.
Europe 2 June 2017
[62]
Japan Infectious [62]
United Kingdom Infectious [62]
United States
  • Infectious
  • Atlantic
 [62]

References

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