The Dream
| Alt-J
The Dream
The Dream is the fourth album by English indie rock band alt-J, released on 11 February 2022 by Infectious Music and the Canvasback Musicdivision of Atlantic Records. It was promoted with the single "U&Me", which was released alongside the album's announcement on 22 September 2021. The track listing for the album was also revealed on this date through publication Stereogum. "Get Better" was released as the album's second single on 3 November 2021 and was accompanied by a pixel-art music video. "Hard Drive Gold" was released as the album's third single on 5 January 2022. "The Actor" was released as the fourth single on 7 February 2022. The album received a four-star rating from The Guardian, who said it was a "stroll around the curiosity shop". In the same review the band's embrace of American sounds was noted. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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The Guardian
The ambitious British indie crooners embrace an American sound while confronting crypto and Covid on their enjoyable fourth album.
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Cult MTL
The Dream is a more experimental, rich and mature effort than its predecessor, 2017’s Relaxer, and a substantial artistic leap forward for the band.
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NME
the revitalised band’s most open-hearted record yet.
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DIY Magazine
Its strength is in packing not just alt-J’s usual futuristic twist, but a heavy side serving of nostalgia too.
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Louder Than War
After a five-year sabbatical, alt-J return with their fourth album, The Dream. It’s the sound of a band who are refreshed and revitalised. Happily, it retains what made alt-J so interesting, whilst bringing a new dimension to bear.
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Skiddle
In conclusion, Alt-J's The Dream is the sound of a band who have come back strongly after their last album hit a bit of a stumbling block. With time away from each other, the band have come back together again with a renewed energy that has led to even more intricate experimentation and a more personal approach to their lyricism than ever before.
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PopMatters
Alt-J may have tempered their eccentricities on The Dream but there’s still plenty of death and genre-bending to satisfy veteran votaries.
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The Line of Best Fit
What Alt-J’s The Dream lacks in heart it makes up for in style and finesse.
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Beats Per Minute
alt-J certainly do us one better in terms of getting even more obscure, this time around entering the domain of the ‘weird’ almost entirely. That is not to say that it is a bad record, but it certainly doesn’t have the features of an album that will have wide-spread appeal like An Awesome Wave did. alt-J’s intentions seem to lie in continuing to experiment, which is why The 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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AllMusic
While the record's extended coda is more fizzle than comedown, there's still plenty of beauty to be found in the latter third, and fans from all eras will find something to love at every turn. Their 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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Indie Is Not A Genre
alt-J’s fourth isn’t without its highlights, its moments that caffeinate and revive, but much of its ideology is obstructed by frustrating production and frequent removals of enthusiasm.
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musicOMH
It’s true of The Dream as much as it is of any other alt-J album, these are not really songs. They’re an experience, a musical tapestry, threads from all the art-pieces winding together to guide us, by the hand, slowly through an immersive experience. With 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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Northern Transmissions
‘The Dream’ isn’t always an easy listen and it’s largely bereft of the catchiness from their previous records. However, it’s an album that’s rich in narrative, emotion and a body of work not afraid to tackle some uncomfortable themes.
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mxdwn Music
Overall, The Dream comes back to true and tried themes of Los Angeles, the seaside, bodies of water, technology, consumerism and more. Only taking place in the quick span of 12 tracks, Alt-J is able to produce a wondrous sequence of experimental lullabies that once again showcases their undebatable artistic skills.
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Under The Radar Magazine
Like its predecessors, The Dream is much less about the songs (with their nonsensical lyrics), but about the mesmeric experience you feel when you listen to them. The record is a “hello” to new fans with a nod to the old: it’s wistful, lush, and precise. With The Dream, we see a band dig deep into themselves and mature as artists. It’s exciting to see where they go from here. And hopefully we don’t have to wait another five years to find out.
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Renowned For Sound
The Dream is a cultivated production that manages to feel experimental and thrilling. An emotionally intense listen that unearths more of the band’s impressive capabilities. It’s a confident release, both otherworldly and intimate with a cinematic language of its own. Alt-J has explored the macabre and released something beautiful.
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Clash Magazine
‘Walk A Mile’ is lugubrious in its sonics, while ‘Losing My Mind’ is overwhelming in its depiction of dark, bleak, paranoid mindsets. Closing with the renewed simplicity of ‘Powders’, ‘The Dream’ is a record framed by fleeting glances and sleight-of-hand. A 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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Vinyl Chapters
The Dream closes with a simplicity rare for alt-J; Powders is about a meet-cute between a boy and girl at a perfume counter, with excerpts from their conversation set to a languid melody and powder-light harmonies. The sharp break from the record’s overarching themes of tragedy and misery leaves the listener with a message: embrace the little things in life. The small things that make it worthwhile. Perhaps that’s what alt-J learnt in last two years.
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XS Noize
The experimentation and exploration have flourishingly continued on The Dream. Whether it is up-tempo pop numbers or moving acoustic ballads, the record offers something for everyone. One can only hesitate a guess at which direction they will turn next.
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Commedia
“The Dream” is a project full of emotion and is debatably the best work that this band has produced. Alt-J should continue to lean towards alternative rock in their music and Newman should continue to use his one-of-a-kind voice to create great projects like this.
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Narc Magazine
If I was to try my best to describe this particular dream, I’d say: it’s blissful, saddening, and at times, quite melancholic, and featuring moments of constant clarity.
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The Seahawk
It is debatable how “The Dream” ranks in Alt-J’s discography, but we can acknowledge that it is an emotionally powerful work that highlights a finessed style and maturation for the indie band. It might take a few listens to fully understand the album, but it is worth listening to during the quietest part of the day.
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Stack
A decade on from their Mercury Prize-winning debut An Awesome Wave, indie Leeds outfit alt-J are back with possibly their best record since.
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Stereoboard
Not all tracks stick the landing, though. Philadelphia has some highly dubious opera samples and Losing My Mind is a pretty uneven exploration of mental distress. But, then again, the complexity and breadth of the sonic palette in Alt-J’s music is one of the most demanding in modern pop: they are trying things that other musicians lack the will to.
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The Reflector
It is another great success for the British ensemble. The Dream serves as a playground for their stylistic expression, its slow pace unique from their other albums makes this the perfect winter listen.
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Evening Standard
still super-clever, but a bit forgettable.
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Gigwise
An outpouring of instinctual, had-to-happen musical moments.
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Hotpress
Wildly inventive, and pretty brilliant.
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Live4ever
Theirs is a fragile and multi-faceted world, and The Dream fully represents that better than any of their other albums. Equal parts intriguing, beautiful and terrifying, alt-J continue to challenge in their own inimitable fashion, somehow making ecstasy and misery easy bedfellows.
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