An un-Googleable delta symbol name (∆), genre-hopping, challenging sounds and esoteric lyrics inspired by Japanese deer are not the usual recipe for surefire pop success. Yet when alt-j arrives in Japan for its debut headline show — catapulted by 1 million album sales, a Mercury prize and a nomination at the forthcoming Grammys — it does so as one of Britain's biggest bands. Even twerker-in-chief Miley Cyrus, pop's great provocateur, is not only a fan but a collaborator. It is, frankly, an unusual concoction to find a mass audience.
Keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton agrees. "I'm surprised we've been embraced by the mainstream," he says from Los Angeles, where the band's winter American tour is drawing to a close. "I always thought we were doing good, interesting stuff that I wanted to listen to, but at the same time it is surprising because I think we just thought we were a bunch of oddballs. Even though we liked it, we didn't know if people would go for it."
With an intimate, schizophrenic sound honed from 2007 in no small part due to the cramped conditions of their student accommodation at Leeds University (where noise restrictions didn't allow a full drum kit or guitar amps and "forced us to be more creative"), Unger-Hamilton, Joe Newman (vocals and guitars), Thom Green (drums) and guitarist/bassist Gwil Sainsbury nonetheless created debut "An Awesome Wave" with melodies to compliment the intricacy. The 2012 Mercury Prize judges were among those convinced: alt-j was suddenly thrust into the limelight.