Alt-J's third album arrives trimmed to eight tracks, a concise 39 minutes that ditches their earlier sprawl for something more focused, if not exactly sharper. The trio enlisted Ellie Rowsell for opener 3WW and scattered the tracklist with cultural touchstones from Miley Cyrus to Lara Croft, their signature choirboy harmonies still intact.

Producer Charlie Andrew returns, though the mixed critical response suggested the band's quirks had calcified into mannerism. Their cover of House of the Rising Sun, oddly credited to Bill Withers, encapsulates the album's strange confidence in its own eccentricity.