An Awesome Wave

An Awesome Wave is the debut album by English indie rock band alt-J, released on 25 May 2012 through Infectious. The album includes the singles "Matilda"/"Fitzpleasure", "Breezeblocks" and "Tessellate". It peaked at number thirteen on the UK Albums Chart, and also charted in Belgium, France, Netherlands and Switzerland. An Awesome Wave won the 2012 British Barclaycard Mercury Prize, and in 2013 was named Album of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards. The title is a reference to a quote from the 2000 American-Canadian film American Psycho.

An Awesome Wave
Studio album by alt-J
Released	25 May 2012 (2012-05-25)
Recorded	2009–2011
Studio	Iguana Studio (London, England)
Genre	Indie rock alt-pop[1] folktronica[2] art rock[3]
Length	48:42
Label	Infectious
Producer	Charlie Andrew, Mark Bishop
Alt-J chronology
Films EP (2009) An Awesome Wave (2012) This Is All Yours (2014)
Singles from An Awesome Wave
"Bloodflood/Tessellate" Released: 13 October 2011 "Matilda" Released: 24 February 2012 "Breezeblocks" Released: 18 May 2012 "Tessellate" Released: 13 July 2012 "Something Good" Released: 28 September 2012 "Fitzpleasure" Released: 18 May 2012 "Dissolve Me" Released: 22 March 2013

Artwork

The album artwork for An Awesome Wave is a multi-layered radar image of the Ganges river delta in Bangladesh and India.^[4] The image in each of the three layers was acquired by the European Space Agency's Envisat Earth-observing satellite, taken separately on the 20th of January, 24th of February and the 31st of March 2009. The overlaid image, titled Ganges' Dazzling Delta,^[5] exposes a multitude of colours arising from the variations in background radiation occurring between the three acquisition times.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.4/10[6]
Metacritic	71/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The A.V. Club	C[8]
The Irish Times	[9]
MSN Music (Expert Witness)	B+[10]
The New Zealand Herald	[11]
NME	8/10[1]
Pitchfork	4.8/10[12]
PopMatters	8/10[13]
Q	[14]
Rolling Stone	[15]

An Awesome Wave received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 71, based on 20 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[7] Jenny Stevens of NME felt that "the charm of Alt-J's musical scatterbrain is that it works", describing the album as "on the surface... smart alt-pop" while noting that the band "have messed with the formula just enough to make this a brilliantly disquieting debut" and that "in refusing to submit to the rigours of a genre, they might just have made themselves masters of their own."^[1] Andy Baber of musicOMH praised the band's ability to mix different musical styles and instruments on the album without coming off as forced or over-complicated.^[16] Similarly, BBC Music's Jen Long wrote that An Awesome Wave "spans every workable idea, genre, and influence that can be crammed under the guitar music umbrella, yet it never feels disorientating" and called it an "entirely comprehendible and accessible collection of beautiful pop songs."^[17]

Ruth Singleton of Drowned in Sound described An Awesome Wave as "a beautifully rounded, awesome debut album" and said that "whatever Alt-J were aiming for with their debut album, they have managed to prove their value as talented musicians, literary enthusiasts and imagery aficionados."^[18] Joe Zadeh of Clash praised the band as "young, yet somehow void of naivety."^[19] Jon O'Brien of AllMusic felt that the album was "occasionally guilty of pretentiousness", but that its "eclectic arrays of sound are woven together in a manner so effortlessly that the results never feel forced or contrived."^[3] In a more negative assessment, Mojo felt that the band "aim for 'cryptic experimental pop' but hit 'pompous whimsy'" and that "the whole album is uncertain and unconvincing".^[20] Laura Snapes of Pitchfork referred to the songs as "draining, elongated MOR tunes".^[12]

Commercial performance

An Awesome Wave entered the UK Albums Chart at number nineteen on sales of 6,720 copies.^[21] After winning the Mercury Prize, the album reached a new peak position of number thirteen, selling 13,527 copies.^[22] On 2 August 2013, the album was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments in excess of 300,000 units in the UK.^[23]

In Canada, the album debuted at number thirty on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 1,800 copies.^[24]

An Awesome Wave first charted in America on 6 October 2012, initially entering at #134. On 4 May 2013, seven months later, An Awesome Wave achieved its peak position of #80.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Intro"	2:37
2.	"❦" (The Ripe & Ruin)	1:12
3.	"Tessellate"	3:02
4.	"Breezeblocks"	3:47
5.	"❦" (Guitar)	1:17
6.	"Something Good"	3:38
7.	"Dissolve Me"	4:00
8.	"Matilda"	3:48
9.	"Ms"	3:58
10.	"Fitzpleasure"	3:39
11.	"❦" (Piano)	0:53
12.	"Bloodflood"	4:09
13.	"Taro" (“Taro” ends at 5:04; hidden track “Hand-Made” starts at 10:04 following 5:00 of silence)	12:41

All tracks are written by Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton, Gwilym Sainsbury and Thom Green

On CD, "Hand-Made" is on the same track as "Taro", separated by several minutes of silence. It is not on the vinyl, however is included as a hidden track within "Taro" when downloaded with the included download code.

iTunes Store deluxe edition bonus tracks^[25]

No.	Title	Length
15.	"Breezeblocks" (Alt-J vs. NOC// Mix)	3:06
16.	"Breezeblocks" (B-JU Remix)	3:59
17.	"Breezeblocks" (Rockdaworld Remix)	4:41
18.	"Breezeblocks" (Submerse Remix)	5:06
19.	"Breezeblocks" (Tom Vek's SFX Remix)	5:18
20.	"Fitzpleasure" (bretonLABS Remix)	4.23
21.	"Fitzpleasure" (Dave Sitek Remix)	3:18
22.	"Fitzpleasure" (Jim James 'Apple C' Remix)	4:20
23.	"Fitzpleasure" (The Internet of Odd Future Remix)	4:30
24.	"Matilda" (Ghostpoet 'Gang Panang Adlit' Remix)	3:49
25.	"Something Good" (BlackBox Remix)	6:29
26.	"Something Good" (Fort Romeau Remix)	4:36
27.	"Something Good" (The Invisible BMC Remix)	5:08
28.	"Something Good" (Tong & Rogers Remix)	8:22
29.	"Tessellate" (Anstam Remix)	3:58
30.	"Tessellate" (Ben De Vries Remix)	4:06
31.	"Tessellate" (BlackBox Remix)	5:55
32.	"Tessellate" (Broadbandits Afro Mix)	5:27
33.	"Tessellate" (Dam Mantle Remix)	6:17
34.	"Tessellate" (Marlais Remix)	3:53
35.	"Fitzpleasure" (Live from the Africa Centre 14.04.12)	4:03
36.	"Taro" (Live from the Africa Centre 14.04.12)	4:23
37.	"Tessellate" (Live from the Africa Centre 14.04.12)	4:26
38.	"Bloodflood" (SARM Acoustic Version)	3:33
39.	"Matilda" (SARM Acoustic Version)	3:59
40.	"Something Good" (SARM Acoustic Version)	3:39
41.	"Tessellate" (SARM Acoustic Version)	3:02
42.	"Breezeblocks" (music video)	3:47
43.	"Tessellate" (music video)	3:01
44.	"Something Good" (music video)	3:39

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of An Awesome Wave.^[26]

• Charlie Andrew – production
• Dick Beetham – mastering
• Mark Bishop – production ("Hand-Made")
• European Space Agency – cover photo provider
• Rachael Lander – cello ("Taro")
• Kirsty Mangan – string arrangements (all tracks); violin ("Tessellate", "Taro")
• St Ronan's Chamber Choir – additional vocals ("Bloodflood", "Taro")

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2012–2013) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[27] 9 Australian Dance Albums (ARIA)[28] 2 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[29] 17 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[30] 51 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[31] 34 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[32] 18 French Albums (SNEP)[33] 45 Irish Albums (IRMA)[34] 11 Irish Independent Albums Chart[35] 1 Italian Albums (FIMI)[36] 97 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[37] 24 Scottish Albums (OCC)[38] 17 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[39] 39 UK Albums (OCC)[40] 13 UK Indie Albums (OCC)[41] 1 US Billboard 200[42] 80 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[43] 15 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[44] 23

Year-end charts Chart (2012) Position Australian Dance Albums (ARIA)[45] 20 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[46] 97 French Albums (SNEP)[47] 122 UK Albums (OCC)[48] 61 Chart (2013) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[49] 48 Australian Dance Albums (ARIA)[50] 6 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[51] 48 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[52] 173 French Albums (SNEP)[53] 134 UK Albums (OCC)[54] 67 US Billboard 200[55] 150 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[56] 32 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[57] 36 Chart (2020) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[58] 173 Chart (2021) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[59] 162 Chart (2022) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[60] 178 Chart (2023) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[61] 162

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[62]	Platinum	70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[63]	Gold	40,000^
Italy (FIMI)[64]	Gold	25,000‡
Netherlands (NVPI)[65]	Platinum	50,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[23]	Platinum	384,346[66]
United States (RIAA)[67]	Platinum	1,000,000‡
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label
United Kingdom[68]	25 May 2012	Digital download	Infectious Music
	28 May 2012	CD, LP
United States[69]	18 September 2012	CD, LP, digital download	Canvasback, Atlantic Records

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