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Feb 11, 2022The elaborate instrumentation and extended runtimes of their earlier oeuvre have returned, but they’re now justified with greater attention to pacing, mood, and overall cohesiveness.
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Mar 23, 2022They build their own world. Eventually you grasp its shrewdly filtered emotion and want to live there, too.
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Feb 14, 2022With The Dream, we see a maturing band dip deep into their emotions, immersing us not only in art and culture but in their dreams, and it is utterly brilliant.
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Feb 14, 2022The Dream is another enjoyable stroll around the band’s latest curiosity shop.
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Feb 11, 2022Their best since 2014's This Is All Yours, The Dream finds Alt-J in top form. Despite being so lyrically death-obsessed, the beauty and warmth coursing through the album make it full of life and absolutely human.
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Feb 11, 2022The Dream is sensuous and seductive, but it often lingers on the borderline of turning into a nightmare.
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Feb 10, 2022‘The Dream’ continues the slow, rewarding blossoming of Alt-J’s records, each a little more generous, thoughtful and optimistic than the last. ... It’s the sound of a band revitalised, having finally found their happy place.
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Feb 10, 2022The Dream sees the band moving briskly through sensations, their heads stuck out the window of a speeding car, tongues wagging, sticking to whatever comes their way.
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Feb 9, 2022Indie’s most eclectic ensemble are not slowing down so much as aging gracefully. The Dream confirms that it’s worth aging with them.
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Feb 9, 2022‘The Dream’’s strength is in packing not just alt-J’s usual futuristic twist, but a heavy side serving of nostalgia too. It’s a perfect, subtle, and unpretentious combo.
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Feb 9, 2022The album is - as expected - a well-crafted, sonically flawless work. What it lacks in heart (as with all of their albums, there's very little humanity in the sound or the lyrics) it more than makes up for in style and finesse, and it continues the band's run of producing quality records.
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Classic Rock MagazineMar 7, 2022It needs time to be savoured and reveal its full flavours, a satisfying move in a world of glib instant gratification. [Apr 2022, p.83]
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Mar 2, 2022With The Dream, we see a band dig deep into themselves and mature as artists.
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Feb 10, 2022A work of assured yet subtle transition, it re-engages with some of alt-J’s core tenets, while not being afraid to engage emotionally.
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Feb 15, 2022The Dream doesn’t feel like a failed attempt at reaching new heights of popularity. It feels like a lot at once, but in a way that makes one want to give it another shot.
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UncutFeb 9, 2022If a few concessions are made to mainstream mores here, it still works on its own idiosyncratic terms. [Mar 2022, p.25]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 22 out of 24
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Mixed: 2 out of 24
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Negative: 0 out of 24
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Feb 12, 2022This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.
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May 22, 2022
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Apr 25, 2022