Alt-J: This Is All Yours

In the midst of riding the "awesome wave" generated by their Mercury Prize-winning 2012 debut, Alt-J lost a member when bassist Gwil Sainsbury left. There is no sense of fracture or loss on their second album, which sees the wonderfully weird Leeds band abundant with another batch of off-kilter indie ideas. Glitchy electronic grooves rub shoulders with intimate, ghostly hymns, while Left Hand Free's upbeat funk briefly unleashes the party before Garden of England's palate-cleansing medieval flute interlude (no, really). This is also probably the only record you'll hear a love song with the line "Turn you inside out to lick you like a crisp packet" and a track that brilliantly samples Miley Cyrus. All in all, you'll be pushed to hear a more peculiarly diverse album this year. altjband.com